Valoración económica de las externalidades producidas por la generación de energía eléctrica: el caso de Candiota (Brasil). Perspectivas tecnológicas y costes de la energía

Abstract

The economic valuation of the externalities is a relevant method when it comes to assess the physical impacts and damage costs of airborne pollution from electricity production. It is in this context that the analysis of the power station case arises. Located in the southern state of Rio Grande do (Brazil), this coal fired power plant has relatively high emission factors for particulates (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO2). As a consequence, damages to human health have been reported. The first objective of this research is to assess the external cost on health and climate change caused by the power station. The second, to evaluate the feasibility, from a social perspective, of a possible technological adaptation, capable of mitigating this impact. To this effect, a detailed analysis is presented beginning with pollutant emission. It is followed by atmospheric dispersion and quantification of the impacts and damages through the use of concentration-response functions (CRF) and unit costs. A Bottom-up approach is used, with the Uniform World Model, carried out by Joseph V. Spadaro (Spadaro, 1999). Due to the multiplicative nature of the analysis, the confidence intervals of the result are calculated assuming a lognormal distribution (uncertainty). The results of this study reveal that the damage costs are large and some mitigations measures should be required. On the other hand, the external cost generated by the power station and the minimum investment needed when facing a possible technological adaptation show a feasible change in technology, when the external costs are internalized by the power stations costs.