Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study
Hospitals are major contributors to climate change. It is therefore essential to identify the main sources of hospitals’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to develop and monitor mitigation measures. Yet, a transparent and comprehensive hospital-specific GHG accounting methodology is currently lacking....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Environmental Systems |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266678942500008X |
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| author | Claudia Quitmann Leonard Terres Andy Maun Rainer Sauerborn Emma Reynolds Till Bärnighausen Alina Herrmann Bernd Franke |
| author_facet | Claudia Quitmann Leonard Terres Andy Maun Rainer Sauerborn Emma Reynolds Till Bärnighausen Alina Herrmann Bernd Franke |
| author_sort | Claudia Quitmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hospitals are major contributors to climate change. It is therefore essential to identify the main sources of hospitals’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to develop and monitor mitigation measures. Yet, a transparent and comprehensive hospital-specific GHG accounting methodology is currently lacking. We have developed a hybrid methodology that follows the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard to calculate emissions. We used bottom-up approaches to scope 1 and 2 and, where feasible, to scope 3. Due to data scarcity, we used top-down approaches for several scope-3-categories. As a case study demonstration, we applied this methodology to a German university hospital: Scope 3 accounted for the majority of GHG emissions (164,529 t CO2e (71%)), while scopes 1 (6008 t CO2e (3%)) and 2 (60,565 t CO2e (26%)) contributed less. Methodological challenges remain, such as a limited accuracy and monitoring options for top-down approaches. Nonetheless, this case study demonstrates that the developed methodology supports hospitals in measuring GHG emissions as part of their regulatory requirements and responsibility to safeguard planetary health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-77e491aa4a994d5489ffecb4555f4c02 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-7894 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Environmental Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-77e491aa4a994d5489ffecb4555f4c022025-02-02T05:29:25ZengElsevierCleaner Environmental Systems2666-78942025-03-0116100262Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-studyClaudia Quitmann0Leonard Terres1Andy Maun2Rainer Sauerborn3Emma Reynolds4Till Bärnighausen5Alina Herrmann6Bernd Franke7Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany; Corresponding author.Institute of General Practice / Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Elsässerstr. 2m, 79110, Freiburg, GermanyInstitute of General Practice / Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Elsässerstr. 2m, 79110, Freiburg, GermanyHeidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120, Heidelberg, GermanyHeidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120, Heidelberg, GermanyHeidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120, Heidelberg, GermanyHeidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany; Institute for General Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, Medial Faculty Cologne University, Kerpenerstraße 62, 50937, Köln, GermanyInstitut für Energie- und Umweltforschung (ifeu), Wilckensstr. 3, 69120, Heidelberg, GermanyHospitals are major contributors to climate change. It is therefore essential to identify the main sources of hospitals’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to develop and monitor mitigation measures. Yet, a transparent and comprehensive hospital-specific GHG accounting methodology is currently lacking. We have developed a hybrid methodology that follows the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard to calculate emissions. We used bottom-up approaches to scope 1 and 2 and, where feasible, to scope 3. Due to data scarcity, we used top-down approaches for several scope-3-categories. As a case study demonstration, we applied this methodology to a German university hospital: Scope 3 accounted for the majority of GHG emissions (164,529 t CO2e (71%)), while scopes 1 (6008 t CO2e (3%)) and 2 (60,565 t CO2e (26%)) contributed less. Methodological challenges remain, such as a limited accuracy and monitoring options for top-down approaches. Nonetheless, this case study demonstrates that the developed methodology supports hospitals in measuring GHG emissions as part of their regulatory requirements and responsibility to safeguard planetary health.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266678942500008XHealth careGreenhouse gas emissionsCarbon footprintHospitalClimate changeMitigation |
| spellingShingle | Claudia Quitmann Leonard Terres Andy Maun Rainer Sauerborn Emma Reynolds Till Bärnighausen Alina Herrmann Bernd Franke Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study Cleaner Environmental Systems Health care Greenhouse gas emissions Carbon footprint Hospital Climate change Mitigation |
| title | Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study |
| title_full | Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study |
| title_fullStr | Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study |
| title_short | Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals: The development of an open-access calculator and its application to a German case-study |
| title_sort | assessing greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals the development of an open access calculator and its application to a german case study |
| topic | Health care Greenhouse gas emissions Carbon footprint Hospital Climate change Mitigation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266678942500008X |
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