New research published by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Carleton University finds that the U.S. could see an estimated $1.6 billion in societal benefits every year by using electric school buses.
This first-of-its-kind data released Wednesday accounts for the cost of using diesel-burning school buses as compared to using electric school buses, measured by two metrics: Health impacts and climate effects. WRI stated that by “comparing these costs at the local level, the data provides annual societal benefit figures in dollar terms for every county in the contiguous U.S.”
People in every state would experience positive benefits from ESBs, the research suggests, but it would be most pronounced in countries operating the oldest-burning school buses, and in communities with higher proportions of people of color and in countries with larger populations and dense, urban areas.
Still, the research indicates New York, California, Florida and Texas are poised to benefit the most from ESBs. However, nearly every county nationwide stands to benefit by using electric school buses, with the study finding more than $509,000 in average annual benefits per county and some counties seeing more than $30 million in societal benefits each year. Annual benefits vary by county based on school bus fleet size, population density, electricity fuel type mix, and age of the current diesel fleet.
“For years, communities in New York have experienced outsized impacts of diesel pollution,” commented Matt Berlin, CEO of New York City School Bus Umbrella Services. “As this new data from WRI proves, school bus electrification makes sense for New Yorkers. Investing in electric school buses means making the bus ride for kids and bus attendants and drivers on the bus quieter and healthier. Beyond the bus itself, reducing pollution near schools and in the communities where we all live means we all enjoy these benefits.”
WRI stated that the research is among the first to “model and quantify the county-level health and climate impacts of using electric school buses instead of aging diesel-burning school buses.”
When looking at the the factors of population health and climate change, the research notes that about 90 percent of the nearly half-million school buses operating in the U.S. run on diesel fuel and the harmful pollutants in diesel can cause respiratory illness, cognitive impairment and cancer, as recognized by the World Health Organization.
ESBs, however, produce zero tailpipe emissions and have the lowest greenhouse gas footprint of any school bus type at the national level, even when accounting for emissions from the associated electricity generation, the research claims. It examines the effects of diesel-burning school buses in operation, as well as the production and distribution of the fuel used.
The health impacts of diesel-burning school buses were estimated by determining the excess mortality associated with exposure to PM2.5, despite federal regulations over the past 15 years that have reduced diesel emissions by approximately 90 percent. The impacts were calculated into dollar figures based on a sociological metric that reportedly looks at how much society is willing to pay for small reductions to the risk of dying from health conditions that may be caused by environmental pollution. The sociological metric is referred to as the Value of a Statistical Life.
Meanwhile, the climate impacts of diesel-burning school buses were measured by calculating the Social Cost of Carbon, an established metric for the societal damage from extreme heat, sea level rise, food insecurity and other impacts of climate change, from these buses’ carbon dioxide emissions. The study notes that because health impacts were measured only by excess mortality from PM2.5, there are likely more health benefits of electric school buses that aren’t captured in this data, including reduced exposure to ozone pollutants, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
Further Studies Needed
A technical note acknowledges several research limitations in addition to only studying excess mortality of PM2.5 and recommends additional environmental analysis and higher resolution modeling in urban areas. The study does not address environmental justice or equity benefits of ESBs and disparities in air pollution based on race, ethnicity or income, the latter which the researchers said could reveal additional ESB benefits for marginalized communities. The research also makes assumptions about brake and tire-wear emissions and relies on “not yet mature” ESB operational parameters and emissions based on data from 2020 that does not account for changes in fleet composition changes, vehicle standards and the electricity grid. Additionally, benefits per ton remain consistent between 2016 and 2020 and “may not fully capture changes in atmospheric composition or emissions.”
Once the costs of diesel school bus impacts were determined, the research calculated the same types of impacts for ESBs, including electricity generation, and compared them to that of diesel to provide a dollar figure from each county.
Brian Zepka, research manager for WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative said the research used a new modeling approach to trace air pollution back to its source, “allowing us to directly attribute which health impacts stem from diesel-burning school buses. While other approaches start with the air pollution source and estimate its impact, this approach, developed in peer-reviewed research funded by the Health Effects Institute, starts with the health impacts, like early deaths from air pollution, and traces that pollution back to its source—in this case, school buses.”
WRI noted the research “uses state-of-the-art models and county-level data to more specifically estimate where electric school buses would provide the most health and climate benefits through reduced emissions. It doesn’t look at the cost to own or operate different types of school buses, instead examining the impact on society from the use of the buses.”
Sue Gander, director of WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative, said the new research shows “undeniably” that ESBs give kids a cleaner ride to school.
“In every region of the country, North, South, East and West, communities stand to see real, significant benefits from the cleaner air and reduced emissions of electric school buses. And as this research demonstrates, everybody wins when kids get to school on a clean ride, to the tune of $1.6 billion dollars every year in health and climate benefits nationwide,” she said. “Given the outsize benefits of electrifying the most polluting diesel-burning school bus fleets, and the concentration of those buses in low income areas and areas with more people of color, this data reinforces the need to ensure that those most impacted by diesel exhaust pollution are among the first to benefit from electric school buses.”
The 10 percent of diesel-burning school buses that are the most polluting are responsible for nearly 50 percent of the total health impacts of diesel-burning school buses nationwide, the research notes. Breaking that down by per-mile health impacts from diesel school buses, while varying, results to under $10 to nearly $4,000 per 1,000 miles driven, depending on the school bus age and operating location.
While the research only focused on PM2.5-related premature mortality as the primary health end point, diesel-burning school buses also emit large amounts of NOx, which contribute to ozone formation and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure—both are linked to asthma, morbidity and additional premature deaths.
The research does not include the additional health effects or impacts of other diesel pollutants. WRI stated the research is likely underestimating the total benefits of electrification. Incorporating NOx-related outcomes in the future could show greater contrasts between diesel and electric.
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The post WRI Research Highlights Monetary Health Benefits of Electric School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.
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