# How do I work out the cold chain emissions per vaccine dose?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/vaccine-cold-chain-emissions-per-dose

Add the electricity for walk-in coolers and freezers, refrigerated transport fuel and refrigerant top-ups for the period, then divide by doses handled. Refrigerant leaks can matter more than power, because common refrigerants have global warming potentials in the thousands.

## The three parts

- Cold room and freezer electricity, from sub-meters or the bill share.
- Reefer van or truck diesel.
- Refrigerant recharged in the year, by gas type.

## Divide carefully

Use doses actually stored or moved, and keep ultra-cold storage separate if you run it, since it draws far more power per dose.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads quantities, dates and units from your bills and invoices and shows the factor and source used on every line.

- [Cold storage emissions per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/cold-storage-emissions-per-tonne)
- [Reefer container emissions](https://senseible.earth/answers/reefer-container-emissions-food-exporters)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [IPCC AR6 WG1, global warming potentials](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.