Disproportionality in Power Plants' Carbon Emissions: A Cross-National Study

• Authors: Andrew Jorgenson, Boston College; Wesley Longhofer, Emory University; Don Grant, University of Colorado
• Journal Title: Scientific Reports
• Volume: Volume 6
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option C | 2016-07-01, Pages 28661-28661
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/srep28661
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences; Sociology, General
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Science & Technology - Other Topics; CO2 Emissions; Efficiency

Abstract

Past research on the disproportionality of pollution suggests a small subset of a sector's facilities often produces the lion's share of toxic emissions. Here we extend this idea to the world's electricity sectors by calculating national-level disproportionality Gini coefficients for plant-level carbon emissions in 161 nations based on data from 19,941 fossil-fuel burning power plants. We also evaluate if disproportionalities in plant-level emissions are associated with increased national carbon emissions from fossil-fuel based electricity production, while accounting for other well-established human drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. Results suggest that one potential pathway to decreasing nations' greenhouse gas emissions could involve reducing disproportionality among fossil-fuel power plants by targeting those plants in the upper end of the distribution that burn fuels more inefficiently to produce electricity.