The rise of primary energy use and CO2 emissions over four decades across 70 countries is not closely correlated with increases in life expectancy, a new study finds. This suggests that increased fossil fuel use is not a key determinant of increased life expectancy, the lead author tells Carbon Brief. The analysis finds that increased access to electricity in the home was much more closely associated with a longer life expectancy over the 40-year study period. Tackling climate change requires countries to rapidly transition away from burning fossil fuels.
In response to calls for action, some commentators have argued that using more fossil fuels can bring about increases in the health and wellbeing of populations – and that, because of this, developing nations should not be discouraged from using them. The new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, addresses this claim. It finds that, over time, there is no strong association between increased life expectancy and fossil fuel use, explains lead author Prof Julia Steinberger, an ecology economist from the University of Leeds.
For example, having access to electricity in the home allows people to refrigerate food, stay in contact using the internet and forgo the use of wood and charcoal-burning stoves, which can negatively affect health, she adds. The authors also studied the links between increases in residential electricity access and increases in CO2 emissions. They find that increases in CO2 emissions were only linked to 36% of the increases in residential energy, suggesting fossil fuels are not key for the provision of home electricity.
Source: Renew Economy
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