The Health Costs of Revised Coal Mining Limits in Northern Bohemia

Brown coal has been the major source of energy for more than 150 years for the Czech economy, but its role in the coming decades is nowadays the source of heated debate. Many of the recurring discussions address the coal reserves that were set aside in 1991 in order to halt the massive destruction of the landscape and the unprecedented deterioration of the human environment in Northern Bohemia. We study the proposed variants of the revised mining limits using the impact-pathway approach in order to quantify and monetize the health effects of airborne emissions from coal mining and the use of extracted coal for the production of electricity and heat. We find that the dominant health impacts associated with the revision of the limits, estimated to be up to 7 billion euros over the 2015–2050 period, will stem from the use of coal for the production of electricity and heat and that a large part of the impact will be borne by populations outside the Czech Republic.