Health and Climate Benefits of Offshore Wind

Harvard University
Project completed September 2014. Paper published July 2016.

In collaboration with partners from Harvard University, the University of Delaware, and Boston University, Synapse modeled the climate, air quality, and health benefits of offshore wind facilities in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The study simulated benefits of offshore wind facilities of different sizes in two locations that are in early stages of planning and development. The results demonstrated that these offshore facilities can produce health and climate benefits of between $54 and $120 per MWh of generation. The project was a joint effort of Synapse, the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean & Environment, and the Boston University School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health. Environmental Research Letters published the findings in its July 2016 volume.