The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review

Roletto, Andrea; Zanardo, Moreno; Bonfitto, Giuseppe Roberto; Catania, Diego; Sardanelli, Francesco; Zanoni, Simone

doi:10.1186/s41747-024-00424-6

European Radiology Experimental

Table 1 This table provides a brief overview of the included studies, their sustainable actions, and principal results

From: The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review

Study	Country	Topic	GHG Protocol Corporate Standard scopes	Setting	Devices	Aim/objective	Sustainable actions	Principal results
Woolen (2023) [25]	USA	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	MRI scanners	Consumption and potential energy saving	Turning off MRI scanners during idle periods	Projected annual energy consumption per scanner: 82,700–171,100 kWh Nonproductive energy: 72–91% of total consumption
Gendy (2022) [24]	UK	Carbon footprint	Scope 1, Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	N/a	Current attitudes to environmental sustainably in radiology	Reducing travel, energy-saving measures	92% of survey participants showed high concern about climate crisis
Brown (2022) [26]	Canada	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	CT scanners	Consumption and potential energy saving	Turn off CT scanners in nonoperational hours	Potential energy saving for 1 CT scanner: 14,180 kWh per year Nonproductive energy: 40–80% of total consumption
McAlister (2022) [27]	Australia	Life-cycle assessment	Scope 2, Scope 3	Radiology imaging service	Ultrasound, x-ray, CT and MRI scanners	Greenhouse gas emissions and direct and indirect energy consumption	Reducing unnecessary imaging, choose lower energy imaging exams, turning off devices during idle periods	CO₂ emissions were 17.5 kg/scan for MRI, 9.2 kg/scan for CT, 0.8 kg/scan for x-ray, and 0.5 kg/scan for US
Peters (2021) [23]	UK	Carbon footprint	Scope 1	Radiology training	N/a	Environmental impact of radiology trainees travel	Reducing travel, teleconferencing, and distance learning	Total emissions by radiology trainees: 122.5 tonnes of CO₂
Büttner (2021) [18]	Germany	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	Monitors and workstations in radiology department	Consumption and potential energy saving	Energy-saving plan with automated shutdown/restart of workstations during idle periods	Potential energy consumption saving: 35,970 kWh (22.2 tons of CO₂ and 14,388.28 USD/year)
Hainc (2020) [13]	Switzerland	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	Monitors and workstations in Radiology department	Consumption and potential energy saving	Turning off devices during idle periods	23,692 kWh potential energy saving per year, 45% of the initial energy consumption
Heye (2020) [14]	Switzerland	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	CT and MRI Scanners	Consumption and potential energy saving	Energy and cost-saving during idle and system-off states can be converted to more energy-efficient operating modes	Energy consumption imaging 614,825 kWh per year CT idle period: 78% (42 867 kWh) MRI idle period: 5.5–13.4% (8,177–16 038 kWh)
Alshqaqeeq (2020) [28]	USA	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	Ultrasound, x-ray, CT and MRI Scanners	Appropriateness of imaging exams related with energy consumption	Choose lower energy imaging exams	Potential US healthcare improvement: 24–240 million kWh per year (US $2.5–$25 million dollars per year)
Brodbeck (2019) [29]	Switzerland	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	N/a	Energy consumption	Development of informatic tools	Inform energy reduction strategies and improve scan protocols
Esmaeili (2018) [30]	USA	Life-cycle assessment	Scope 2, Scope 3	Radiology imaging service	MRI imaging services (MRI scanners and MRI room devices)	Greenhouse gas emissions and direct and indirect energy consumption	N/a	MRI scanner life-cycle energy: 104 kWh per patient 28% inhospital energy consumption (direct) 72% out-hospital energy consumption (indirect)
Martin (2018) [31]	USA	Life-cycle assessment	Scope 2, Scope 3	Radiology imaging service	Ultrasound, CT, and MRI scanners	Greenhouse gas emissions and direct and indirect energy consumption	N/a	Ultrasound has the least environmental impact compared to CT and MRI
Esmaeili (2015) [32]	USA	Life-cycle assessment	Scope 2, Scope 3	Radiology imaging service	CT imaging services (CT scanners and CT room devices)	Carbon footprint of CT scans by quantifying inhospital and out-of-hospital energy use	Expanding radiologists’ knowledge of unseen energy impacts of CT scans	CT scan life-cycle energy: 24–34 kWh per scan 25% inhospital energy consumption (direct) 75% out-hospital energy consumption (indirect)
McCarthy (2014) [33]	Ireland	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	Monitors and workstations in radiology department	Consumption and potential energy saving	Turning off computers, air-conditioning units, enabling sleep mode	116.304 kWh potential energy saving per year US $11,629 potential cost-saving per year 15 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year
Esmaeili (2011) [34]	USA	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	CT imaging services (CT scanners and CT room devices)	Energy consumed per month by CT machine in different states	Energy savings during CT idle period	Potential energy savings: 2,065 KWh per month (88% of the total)
Prasanna (2011) [35]	USA	Energy consumption	Scope 2	Radiology imaging service	Monitors and workstations in radiology department	Consumption and potential energy saving	Turn off devices at the end of workday and on weekends	Potential energy and cost savings: 76.31% (83,866.6 kWh and US $9,225.33, respectively)

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