False fix: the hidden health impacts
of Europe’s fossil gas dependency

First of its kind analysis on the health harm of burning fossil gas shows that in 2019 alone, burning fossil gas for power (and heat) generation caused over 2,800 premature deaths from air pollution (from PM2.5, NO2 and ozone) in the EU-27 and the UK. The price tag for this reliance on fossil gas is up to 8.7 billion EUR in health costs for that year, with the largest health burden falling onto Italy, Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

As the EU Commission is presented the REPowerEU package, health, environmental and climate NGOs in the new briefing “False fix: the hidden health impacts of Europe’s fossil gas dependency” warn that burning fossil gas, like other fossil fuels, also poses a significant health risk:

The price tag for the EU’s and UK’s reliance on electricity generation from fossil gas sums up to up to 8.7 billion EUR in health costs in 2019 alone, with the largest health burden in Italy, Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands and Spain. These costs stem from direct impacts on health from air pollution by gas combustion, including over 2,800 premature deaths, over 15,000 cases of respiratory impacts in adults and children, over 4,100 hospital admissions and over 5 million days in lost productivity because of illness.

Methodology

Full Results

Vlatka Matkovic, Lauri Myllyvirta, Rosa Gierens, Sarah Brown, Frida Kieninger

Partners: HEAL, Ember, Europe Beyond Coal, Food & Water Action Europe

Europe