Mitigation & Adaptation in the Rural Health Context
In BC, climate change mitigation and adaptation is conceptualized similarly in urban and rural areas, with an emphasis on commitments to achieving carbon neutrality, including investing in technologies that reduce energy consumption, implementing land use planning that reduces GHG emissions, and working with local businesses, industry and residents to manage energy use more sustainably.45 Examples of mitigation and adaptation initiatives in rural BC include:
- Biomass boiler installations in Golden and Lillooet: These plants are used to burn wood chips and pellets to generate energy for the communities’ regional hospitals and centres. Together, they have reduced annual carbon emissions by 658t and operational costs by $250,000. Assessments for biomass boilers are underway for Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in the District of Clearwater.76,77
- Electrification project in Lytton: The Interior Health Authority has proposed using abandoned well water systems to generate heat pumps for St. Bartholomew Health Centre. This project’s focus is to replace propane gas with renewable and more affordable energy.76
- 18-month energy management project in Vanderhoof: The Northern Health Authority (NHA) has proposed a series of changes to St. John Hospital which includes a new air to water heat pump and a new heat recovery coil to help reduce GHG emissions. This project is expected to reduce not only site-specific emissions by 30% but also to reduce total natural gas usage in the NHA by over 1%.77
Generalism and telehealth are also promising strategies in health care that can minimize GHG emissions which is discussed further in Chapter 3.
Dr. Stefan Grzybowski discusses what climate change mitigation might look like in the contexts of rural health (1:26)
Rural communities should perform an impact assessment of local healthcare activities on their natural environment when planning climate mitigation and adaptation strategies
Dr.Bob Woollard discusses why its important to consider scale and characteristics of rural communities when discussing challenges of climate change (1:37)
