Clean Energy Development and Public Health: An Empirical Analysis of Cross-Regional Gas Transmission Infrastructure in China

Promoting the clean energy transition is crucial for environmental sustainability and public health. Utilizing data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) spanning 2006–2015, this study employs a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model, treating China’s West–East Gas Pipeline Project (WEGT) as a quasi-natural experiment to evaluate the causal impact of natural gas infrastructure expansion on residents’ health. The empirical results indicate that the WEGT significantly improved public health, reducing the probability of self-reported recent illness by approximately 8.2 percentage points. Heterogeneity analysis shows more pronounced effects among urban residents and the elderly. Mechanism analysis reveals that the infrastructure improves health primarily by optimizing household energy structures and reducing industrial pollution emissions. Furthermore, the “Coal-to-Gas” policy synergistically enhances these health benefits. Economic co-benefits analysis estimates that the project reduced individual annual medical expenditures by approximately 540 RMB and increased the probability of employment by 6.9%. These findings provide empirical evidence for deepening supply-side structural reforms in energy and support the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically by demonstrating how resilient infrastructure (SDG 9) enables affordable clean energy (SDG 7), which in turn delivers good health and well-being (SDG 3).