The carbon footprint of ICUs depends on the electricity mix of the national or local grid

Baid and colleagues state that energy consumption is the most important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in intensive care units (ICUs).1This statement is based on two studies that analysed the carbon footprint of one ICU bed day in three units, two in the United States and one in Australia.23 As the three studied ICUs were located in countries with high carbon power systems, greenhouse gas emissions for electricity production were high: 0.9 and 1.3 kg CO2 equivalents/kWh for the US units and 0.27 for Australia, translating to electricity related greenhouse gas emissions of 111, 80, and 23 kg CO2eq per bed day, respectively.But if the three ICUs were located in countries with low carbon electrical grids, such as Sweden or France, where electricity related greenhouse gas emission is 0.05 kg CO2eq/kWh,4 the electricity related emissions would be 6.2, 3.1, and 4.2 kg CO2eq per bed day. In this scenario, “total”…
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