📶 📉 A 2022 study found data sharing from US embassy monitors contributed to PM2.5 drops of 2-4 µg/m³ in the host countries

@andrealanauze.bsky.social
@akshayaj.bsky.social

Link to my paper with @andrealanauze.bsky.social: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The US embassy air quality monitoring program substantially improved air quality in host cities and even saved the Department of State money via reductions in the hardship pay required to compensate employees for poor air quality at embassy sites. Very sad to see this program halted.

Thanks Casey!

3/3: Fossil-fuel units displaced by rooftop solar during the day must incur start-up costs or ramp up production to compete in the evening. Solar-induced decreases in competitiveness in the evening led to substantial increases in the aggregate rents earned by fossil-fuel units in WA.

2/3: In Western Australia (WA)---a setting with world-leading rooftop solar penetration rates---ignoring start and running costs and ramping constraints when constructing a competitive benchmark results in substantial over-estimates of the rents attributable to market power.

1/3: We develop a methodology to calculate dynamic competitive benchmark prices and output levels across the 24 hours of the day that accounts for unit-level ramping constraints and the recovery of fixed start-up and running costs.

Reducing pollution to meet the WHO standard would mean 80,000 fewer vet visits each year in the UK.

Large potential benefits - people really love their pets!

We spend a lot on them too: £10bn/yr in the UK and $120bn/yr in the US.

(with @akshayaj.bsky.social, Olivier Deschenes and Alan Radford)