How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a clinic or small hospital?
Start with the clinic electricity bill at 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, add generator diesel at 2.68 kg per litre, AC refrigerant top-ups and any anaesthetic gases, then divide by patient visits. Medicines and supplies go in Scope 3 once the basics are in place.
Scope 1 and 2
- Electricity from the bill: Scope 2.
- Generator diesel and refrigerant top-ups: Scope 1.
- Anaesthetic gases released, if surgery is done: Scope 1.
Scope 3 to add next
- Medicines and consumables, from purchase invoices.
- Biomedical waste treatment, from the treatment facility.
- Staff commuting, if you want the fuller picture.
Per visit
Divide by patient visits in the month from your billing system, and keep a separate figure for any inpatient beds.
Worked example: one clinic (one month, illustrative inputs)
- Electricity: 1,800 kWh x 0.710 = 1,278 kg CO2
- Diesel: 40 litres x 2.68 = 107.2 kg CO2
- Clinic total: 1,385.2 kg CO2 a month
- Per patient visit at 1,200 visits: 1.154 kg CO2
Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and visit count.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and diesel, LPG and gas invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a dated, fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record for each site. Intensity per unit uses the activity count you enter, and estimates are labelled as estimates.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.