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The public health benefits of adding offshore wind to the grid

New plans to build two commercial offshore wind farms near the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts have sparked a lot of about the .

But as , I'm intrigued by how this gust of may improve public health. Replacing fossil fuels with , research shows, can . In turn, that can save lives.

So my colleagues and I calculated the health impact of generating electricity through – which until now the U.S. has barely begun to do.

Greening the grid

New England gets almost none of its electricity from burning coal and more than three-quarters of it from burning . The rest is from hydropower and from renewable energy, including wind and solar power and the burning of wood and refuse.

The health benefits of moving to wind power would be significant, particularly for regions that rely more heavily on coal and oil to generate electricity.

Replacing coal and oil with offshore wind will reduce emissions of air pollutants like . These pollutants can form smog, soot and ozone. When people downwind are exposed to them, they .

Saving 13 lives a year

When my colleagues and I studied what would happen if offshore wind farms were installed off the Mid-Atlantic coast, we determined that they would bring about health and climate benefits.

We projected that a 1,100-megawatt wind farm off the coast of New Jersey, a bit smaller than the two approved offshore wind farms, would save around .

When connected to the grid, this new source of power would make carbon emissions decline by , the .

Offshore wind faces a number of technical and economic hurdles, including installation of transmission lines. But at least theoretically, this form of renewable energy could generate enough electricity to supply , according to the Energy Department. Members of the Trump administration, including Interior Secretary , appear to support offshore wind.

While it may not be possible, practical or necessary to build offshore wind everywhere, even replacing a small portion of the nation's fossil-fueled electricity will be good for everyone's health.