The energy burden and environmental impact of health services

Brown, Lawrence, Buettner, Petra, and Canyon, Deon V. (2012) The energy burden and environmental impact of health services. American Journal of Public Health, 102 (12). e76. pp. 1-8.

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Abstract

Objectives: We reviewed the English-language literature on the energy burden and environmental impact of health services.

Methods: We searched all years of the PubMed, CINAHL, and ScienceDirect databases for publications reporting energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, or the environmental impact of health-related activities. We extracted and tabulated data to enable cross-comparisons among different activities and services; where possible, we calculated per patient or per event emissions.

Results: We identified 38 relevant publications. Per patient or per event, health-related energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are quite modest; in the aggregate, however, they are considerable. In England and the United States, health-related emissions account for 3% and 8% of total national emissions, respectively.

Conclusions: Although reducing health-related energy consumption and emissions alone will not resolve all of the problems of energy scarcity and climate change, it could make a meaningful contribution.

Item ID: 51018
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1541-0048
Date Deposited: 04 Oct 2017 03:35
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050204 Environmental Impact Assessment @ 50%
11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1117 Public Health and Health Services > 111799 Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation > 960699 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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