Switching to vehicles that use electricity from renewable energy could significantly reduce deaths caused by air pollution, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that driving vehicles powered by electricity (made using natural gas) instead of gasoline could yield large health benefits and reduce the resulting deaths due to air pollution by 70 percent. Conversely, vehicles running on corn ethanol or vehicles powered by coal-based or "grid average" electricity are worse for health; switching from gasoline to those fuels would increase the number of resulting deaths due to air pollution by 80 percent or more.

"These findings demonstrate the importance of clean electricity, such as from natural gas or renewables, in substantially reducing the negative health impacts of transportation," Chris Tessum, co-author on the study, said in a statement.

The University of Minnesota team estimated how concentrations of two important pollutants -- particulate matter and ground-level ozone -- change as a result of using various options for powering vehicles. Air pollution is the largest environmental health hazard in the United States, in total killing more than 100,000 people per year. Air pollution increases rates of heart attack, stroke, and respiratory disease.

For the study, researchers looked at liquid biofuels, diesel, compressed natural gas, and electricity from a range of conventional and renewable sources. Their analysis included not only the pollution from vehicles, but also emissions generated during production of the fuels or electricity that power them. With ethanol, for example, air pollution is released from tractors on farms, from soils after fertilizers are applied, and to supply the energy for fermenting and distilling corn into ethanol.

"Our work highlights the importance of looking at the full life cycle of energy production and use, not just at what comes out of tailpipes," said Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering Assistant Professor Jason Hill, co-author of the study. "We greatly underestimate transportation's impacts on air quality if we ignore the upstream emissions from producing fuels or electricity."

The researchers also point out that whereas recent studies on life cycle environmental impacts of transportation have focused mainly on greenhouse gas emissions, it is also important to consider air pollution and health. Their results provide unprecedented detail on the air quality-related health impacts of transportation fuel production and use.

"Air pollution has enormous health impacts, including increasing death rates across the United States," said Julian Marshall, a co-author on this study. "This study provides valuable new information on how some transportation options would improve or worsen those health impacts."

The findings are detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.