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Renewable Energy in Healthcare: Benefits and Challenges

Hospitals use tremendous amounts of energy running complex life-saving equipment 24/7. They also produce tons of waste that gets incinerated, releasing emissions. Adopting renewable energy offers healthcare facilities an opportunity to cut costs, protect the environment and boost community health. But according to the folk over at Commonwealth, making the transition also poses some key challenges that industry leaders work hard to address, including the need for proper protection and controls.

Why Renewables Benefit Healthcare

Many compelling reasons exist for hospitals, clinics, and care facilities to embrace clean power sources. Solar, wind and geothermal energy deliver sustainability in line with “first, do no harm” healthcare ethics. They also make shrewd business sense by limiting overhead expenses over decades of use.

Lower Energy Bills

Equipment like MRI scanners, ventilators, and lighting rack up extreme electricity expenses. Renewable energy generated on-site via solar panels, small wind turbines or geo wells slashes utility costs for decades. After covering installation fees, savings from harnessing these free fuel sources directly benefits hospital bottom lines.

Improved Electric Reliability

Backup generators prove essential during outages that jeopardize critical machines and perishable supplies. But generator fuel also poses environmental and storage hazards. Pairing solar arrays with batteries or biofuel generators enhances redundancy. It also minimizes risks associated with on-site fossil fuel supplies while bolstering emergency preparedness.

Lower Environmental Impact

Healthcare institutions increasingly recognize their responsibility towards community health extends beyond clinic walls. Many commit to slashing waste and emissions via public pledges to environmental stewardship.

Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables helps hospital networks deliver on emission reduction goals. It also lowers exposure to air pollution that triggers asthma attacks and respiratory diseases among nearby neighborhoods. As anchors within their towns, healthcare facilities switching to clean energy paves the way for broader community adoption.

Challenges Hindering Adoption

Despite worthwhile incentives, only a few hospitals nationwide have tapped renewables so far. Transitioning from status quo energy relationships poses complex challenges, especially for older facilities. Ongoing barriers around upfront costs, electric reliability, and policy issues slow more rapid evolution currently.

High Upfront Costs

Hospital administrators struggle to balance expenses for direct medical equipment with indirect overhead needs. Flashy machines attract donor funding easier than electrical system upgrades or solar panels on rooftops. And board members balk at 20–30-year renewable payback horizons. Convincing stakeholders requires projecting long-term savings highlighted by rising energy prices and likely emissions penalties.

Intermittency Concerns

Wind and solar fluctuate based on weather rather than offering 24/7 output like coal or nuclear plants. Many hospital decision-makers fret over inadequate electricity to power critical systems when skies cloud or darkness falls.

Backup batteries help bridge low-generation periods but remain imperfect. Holistic microgrid designs that layer mixed renewables, batteries and on-site generators provide hospitals reliable full coverage as technologies improve.

Protection and Controls Needs

Managing renewable energy assets and usage data also introduces complex monitoring requirements beyond the capabilities of legacy equipment. Sophisticated hardware and software helps synchronize electricity supply and demand across buildings for optimized performance.

Policy and Regulatory Uncertainty

Utility companies also sometimes thwart hospitals switching to renewables by imposing restrictive policies. Rules limiting credits for energy sent back to the grid deter solar adoption. Outdated regulations likewise inhibit hospitals selling excess power to neighboring communities when state laws prohibit such arrangements. Policy advocacy helps tip the scales toward updated frameworks that assist renewable healthcare projects.

Conclusion

Despite the obstacles, renewables’ cost savings and sustainability gains spur adoption forward through individual hospitals and broader group purchasing contracts. Increasingly physicians see eliminating fossil fuels as preventative care on a societal scale. Through innovation and collaboration, healthcare continues moving towards its climate and community wellbeing missions.