The College is proud that, through the efforts of members of its Sustainability Committee, Ireland is the first country to publish direct determination of CO2 equivalent (CO₂e) of inhaled anaesthetic agents at a national level. Dr Tim Keady and colleagues estimated that in 2019, total emissions from inhaled anaesthetic agents used across all public hospitals and the majority of private hospitals amounted to 17 865 tonnes CO₂e or ∼0.03% of the total Irish emissions in 2019 (∼59 000 000 tonnes CO₂e). The vast majority of emissions (84% or 15 047 tonnes CO₂e) were related to N₂O use, either as pure N₂O (42%) or ENTONOX (58%).

These findings will shortly be published in the correspondence section of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007091222005542?dgcid=coauthor