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Monetization of the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels

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Abstract

Fossil fuels account for more than 80% of the world’s energy consumption. Constituents of the atmosphere have changed perceptibly due to the increased use of fossil fuels. Therefore, many researchers have tried to relate their effect on society. In Pakistan, fossil fuel consumption and its CO2-based emission factor have been significantly correlated to economic growth. However, it needs further attention to study the adverse effects of fossil fuels. This study is an attempt to assess the cost of fossil fuels to society. Damages caused by fossil fuels are evaluated for the years of 2005–2009, using local pollution factors based on CO2 emission. Results show that the market price of fossil fuels increases after adding up the cost of damage caused by the final use of the fuel. People pay a huge amount of PKR 133 billion per year for taxes, health services, insurance premiums, and low living standards. Accordingly, it is suggested that we must shift from fossil fuels to other alternative clean types of energy.

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Acknowledgments

I acknowledge the guidance and support of Professor Dr. Simeon Agathopoulos.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, H-8, Pakistan

    Ather Hassan, Syed Zafar Ilyas & Abdul Jalil

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, H-8, Pakistan

    Zahid Ullah

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  1. Ather Hassan
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  2. Syed Zafar Ilyas
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  4. Zahid Ullah
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study material equally. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ather Hassan, Syed Zafar Ilyas, Abdul Jalil, and Zahid Ullah, and all authors commented on the revised version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ather Hassan.

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• The study is not split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and not submitted to various journals or to one journal over time.

• Results are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation (including image based manipulation).

• No data, text, or theories by others are presented as our own, and proper acknowledgments to other works are given.

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Hassan, A., Ilyas, S.Z., Jalil, A. et al. Monetization of the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 21204–21211 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12205-w

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