Trade-offs between CCUS deployment and health co-benefits in China’s carbon neutrality

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is critical for decarbonizing in hard-to-abate industries, while it may impede air quality improvements and associated health co-benefits by delaying fossil fuel phase-out. Here we evaluate the trade-offs between CCUS deployment and health co-benefits in China’s pathway to carbon neutrality 2020–2060 by an integrated modeling framework. We show that, CCUS increases the national PM 2.5 concentration, leading to an additional 658,800 (95% confidence interval: 532,300–780,800) premature deaths, with uneven distributions in terms of health outcomes and populations. Our findings highlight tensions between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of climate action (SDG 13) and health (SDG 3). To maximize health co-benefits resulting from carbon neutrality, we propose to deploy CCUS with stricter air pollutant emissions control measures in regions with significant population aging, and to incorporate health co-benefits losses into the cost-benefits analysis of CCUS deployment. Our study provides novel insights into enhancing synergies between carbon neutrality and sustainable development objectives.