Counting the costs of Australia's bushfires

It's not easy to estimate the total economic cost of Australia's bushfires that have burnt through vast areas of the country, especially as the fire season may continue as late as March. The total impact on human lives, the economy and environment is complicated and some costs may continue to grow for years to come. 

Considering the cost of the Australian bushfires.

The guests were Mayor of Shoalhaven Shire, Amanda Findley; Australian Laureate Fellow in Economics, University of Queensland, John Quiggin; Professor of Economics, Deakin Business School, Researcher, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, Mehmet Ulubasoglu; and the Chief Economist, The Australia Institute, Richard Denniss.

Listen to the ABC podcast, The Money - “Counting the costs of Australia's bushfires.”

Saving Lives and Money: The Potential of Solar to Replace Coal

In a new study published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Review, a team from Michigan Technological University calculated the cost of combusting coal in terms of human lives along with the potential benefits of switching to solar.

Solar energy has a multitude of
advantageous over coal.

Tens of thousands of Americans die prematurely each year from air pollution-related diseases associated with burning coal. By transitioning to solar photovoltaics (PV) in the US, up to 51,999 American lives would be saved at $1.1 million invested per life.

“Unlike other public health investments, you get more than lives saved,” says Joshua Pearce, a professor of materials science and electrical engineering at Michigan Tech. “In addition to saving lives, solar is producing electricity, which has economic value.”

Using a sensitivity analysis on the value of electricity, which examines the different costs of electricity that varies by region throughout the country, saving a life by using solar power also showed potential to make money—sometimes as much as several million dollars per life, says Pearce.

Read the Science and Technology Research News story - “Saving Lives and Money: The Potential of Solar to Replace Coal.”