Veterinary Clean Energy Transition
How can I reduce my hospital’s energy use emissions?
Well, to answer just that very burning question, Colleen and I recently published a paper in JAVMA: Decarbonizing energy use and enhancing efficiency can rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in veterinary practice. We outline key energy use emission sources in veterinary practice and present rapidly scalable strategies to reduce emitted pollution and Greenhouse gases. doi.org/10.2460/javma.26.03.0208
Six readily implementable ways to reduce hospital emissions
Source 100% renewable zero-carbon electricity - help drive demand and enhance community energy resilience; increasingly geographically available and at decreasing costs
Electrify clinical operations - use heat/cool pumps for HVAC, water heater, and dryers
Reduce emissions from transport - incentivize your staff’s green commute, e.g. install onsite EV chargers
Improve hospital energy efficiency - install LED lights, use a ‘turn down’ equipment checklist, re-seal exterior doors, insulate hot water pipes, and more.
Install on-site renewable energy generation and storage - nothing like onsite solar panels to ostensibly show your commitment
Reduce emissions from procurement and delivery - contact your supplier for more sustainable options and work with the hospital team to consolidate orders
Far-reaching benefits of transitioning to clean energy
We also outline many other benefits of zero-carbon electricity sources and electrification including improving resilience of businesses to fossil-fuel energy price fluctuations, long-term cost savings, reduced local and distant geographic air pollution, and the potential benefit of agrivoltaics for farmers, whilst supporting local biodiversity.
Join us!
Lead the transformation into how our profession uses energy and embed durable change to facilitate practicing veterinary medicine more sustainably, delivering benefits for animals, humans, and the environment.
