IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v150y2021ics1364032121006857.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 pandemics Stage II – Energy and environmental impacts of vaccination

Author

Listed:
  • Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír
  • Jiang, Peng
  • Fan, Yee Van
  • Bokhari, Awais
  • Wang, Xue-Chao

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic developed the severest public health event in recent history. The first stage for defence has already been documented. This paper moves forward to contribute to the second stage for offensive by assessing the energy and environmental impacts related to vaccination. The vaccination campaign is a multidisciplinary topic incorporating policies, population behaviour, planning, manufacturing, materials supporting, cold-chain logistics and waste treatment. The vaccination for pandemic control in the current phase is prioritised over other decisions, including energy and environmental issues. This study documents that vaccination should be implemented in maximum sustainable ways. The energy and related emissions of a single vaccination are not massive; however, the vast numbers related to the worldwide production, logistics, disinfection, implementation and waste treatment are reaching significant figures. The preliminary assessment indicates that the energy is at the scale of ~1.08 × 1010 kWh and related emissions of ~5.13 × 1012 gCO2eq when embedding for the envisaged 1.56 × 1010 vaccine doses. The cold supply chain is estimated to constitute 69.8% of energy consumption of the vaccination life cycle, with an interval of 26–99% depending on haul distance. A sustainable supply chain model that responds to an emergency arrangement, considering equality as well, should be emphasised to mitigate vaccination's environmental footprint. This effort plays a critical role in preparing for future pandemics, both environmentally and socially. Research in exploring sustainable single-use or reusable materials is also suggested to be a part of the plans. Diversified options could offer higher flexibility in mitigating environmental footprint even during the emergency and minimise the potential impact of material disruption or dependency.

Suggested Citation

  • Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Jiang, Peng & Fan, Yee Van & Bokhari, Awais & Wang, Xue-Chao, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemics Stage II – Energy and environmental impacts of vaccination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s1364032121006857
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111400
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032121006857
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111400?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fan, Yee Van & Tan, Raymond R. & Jiang, Peng, 2020. "Minimising the present and future plastic waste, energy and environmental footprints related to COVID-19," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Yulan Lin & Zhijian Hu & Qinjian Zhao & Haridah Alias & Mahmoud Danaee & Li Ping Wong, 2020. "Understanding COVID-19 vaccine demand and hesitancy: A nationwide online survey in China," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Florian Krammer, 2020. "SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in development," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7830), pages 516-527, October.
    4. Jiang, Peng & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír, 2021. "Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: Challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    5. Ewen Callaway, 2021. "COVID vaccines and kids: five questions as trials begin," Nature, Nature, vol. 592(7856), pages 670-671, April.
    6. Robin Naidoo & Brendan Fisher, 2020. "Reset Sustainable Development Goals for a pandemic world," Nature, Nature, vol. 583(7815), pages 198-201, July.
    7. Jeff Tollefson, 2021. "COVID curbed carbon emissions in 2020 — but not by much," Nature, Nature, vol. 589(7842), pages 343-343, January.
    8. Lin, Qi & Zhao, Qiuhong & Lev, Benjamin, 2020. "Cold chain transportation decision in the vaccine supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(1), pages 182-195.
    9. Trapp, Markus & Lütjen, Michael & Arango Castellanos, Juan Daniel & Jelsch, Oliver & Freitag, Michael, 2017. "Life cycle assessment for frozen food distribution schemes," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Jahn, Carlos & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Digitalization in Maritime and Sustainable Logistics: City Logistics, Port Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Digital Age. Proce, volume 24, pages 267-284, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    10. Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fan, Yee Van & Jiang, Peng, 2020. "The energy and environmental footprints of COVID-19 fighting measures – PPE, disinfection, supply chains," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    11. Alexandre F. Santos & Pedro D. Gaspar & Heraldo J. L. de Souza, 2021. "Refrigeration of COVID-19 Vaccines: Ideal Storage Characteristics, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impacts of Various Vaccine Options," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-11, March.
    12. Zhou, Chuanbin & Yang, Guang & Ma, Shijun & Liu, Yijie & Zhao, Zhilan, 2021. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on waste-to-energy and waste-to-material industry in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    13. Jiang, Peng & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fan, Yee Van & Fu, Xiuju & Tan, Raymond R. & You, Siming & Foley, Aoife M., 2021. "Energy, environmental, economic and social equity (4E) pressures of COVID-19 vaccination mismanagement: A global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    14. Dmitry Ivanov & Alexandre Dolgui, 2020. "Viability of intertwined supply networks: extending the supply chain resilience angles towards survivability. A position paper motivated by COVID-19 outbreak," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(10), pages 2904-2915, May.
    15. Chang, Chia-Lin & McAleer, Michael & Wang, Yu-Ann, 2020. "Herding behaviour in energy stock markets during the Global Financial Crisis, SARS, and ongoing COVID-19," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Xue-Chao & Yang, Lan & Wang, Yutao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Ouyang, Xiao & Dong, Xiaobin, 2022. "Imbalances in virtual energy transfer network of China and carbon emissions neutrality implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    2. Hervás-Zaragoza, Josep & Colmenar-Santos, Antonio & Rosales-Asensio, Enrique & Colmenar-Fernández, Lucía, 2022. "Microgrids as a mechanism for improving energy resilience during grid outages: A post COVID-19 case study for hospitals," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 308-319.
    3. Jiang, Peng & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fan, Yee Van & Fu, Xiuju & Tan, Raymond R. & You, Siming & Foley, Aoife M., 2021. "Energy, environmental, economic and social equity (4E) pressures of COVID-19 vaccination mismanagement: A global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    4. Li, Wei & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Qiuwang & Zeng, Min, 2022. "Salt hydrate–based gas-solid thermochemical energy storage: Current progress, challenges, and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiang, Peng & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fan, Yee Van & Fu, Xiuju & Tan, Raymond R. & You, Siming & Foley, Aoife M., 2021. "Energy, environmental, economic and social equity (4E) pressures of COVID-19 vaccination mismanagement: A global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    2. Peng Jiang & Jiří Jaromír Klemeš & Yee Van Fan & Xiuju Fu & Yong Mong Bee, 2021. "More Is Not Enough: A Deeper Understanding of the COVID-19 Impacts on Healthcare, Energy and Environment Is Crucial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Tong, Yuan & Wan, Ning & Dai, Xingyu & Bi, Xiaoyi & Wang, Qunwei, 2022. "China's energy stock market jumps: To what extent does the COVID-19 pandemic play a part?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Jiang, Peng & Fan, Yee Van & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír, 2021. "Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: Challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    5. M. A. Hannan & M. S. Abd Rahman & Ali Q. Al-Shetwi & R. A. Begum & Pin Jern Ker & M. Mansor & M. S. Mia & M. J. Hossain & Z. Y. Dong & T. M. I. Mahlia, 2022. "Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Severity on Environment, Economy and Society towards Affecting Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Tang, Lianhua & Li, Yantong & Bai, Danyu & Liu, Tao & Coelho, Leandro C., 2022. "Bi-objective optimization for a multi-period COVID-19 vaccination planning problem," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Chaofeng Tang & Kentaka Aruga, 2021. "Effects of the 2008 Financial Crisis and COVID-19 Pandemic on the Dynamic Relationship between the Chinese and International Fossil Fuel Markets," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-11, May.
    8. Tomasz Wołowiec & Iuliia Myroshnychenko & Ihor Vakulenko & Sylwester Bogacki & Anna Maria Wiśniewska & Svitlana Kolosok & Vitaliy Yunger, 2022. "International Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Economics and Environmental Pollution: A Scoping Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    9. Masoomeh Zeinalnezhad & Abdoulmohammad Gholamzadeh Chofreh & Feybi Ariani Goni & Jiří Jaromír Klemeš & Emelia Sari, 2020. "Simulation and Improvement of Patients’ Workflow in Heart Clinics during COVID-19 Pandemic Using Timed Coloured Petri Nets," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-18, November.
    10. Ekinci, Esra & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Kazancoglu, Yigit & Sarma, P.R.S. & Sezer, Muruvvet Deniz & Ozbiltekin-Pala, Melisa, 2022. "Resilience and complexity measurement for energy efficient global supply chains in disruptive events," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Yan, Hongzhi & Hu, Bin & Wang, Ruzhu, 2021. "Air-source heat pump heating based water vapor compression for localized steam sterilization applications during the COVID-19 pandemic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    12. Chong, Cheng Tung & Fan, Yee Van & Lee, Chew Tin & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír, 2022. "Post COVID-19 ENERGY sustainability and carbon emissions neutrality," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    13. Heffron, Raphael J. & Körner, Marc-Fabian & Schöpf, Michael & Wagner, Jonathan & Weibelzahl, Martin, 2021. "The role of flexibility in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Contributing to a sustainable and resilient energy future in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    14. Chofreh, Abdoulmohammad Gholamzadeh & Goni, Feybi Ariani & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Seyed Moosavi, Seyed Mohsen & Davoudi, Mehdi & Zeinalnezhad, Masoomeh, 2021. "Covid-19 shock: Development of strategic management framework for global energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. Apostolos G. Christopoulos & Petros Kalantonis & Ioannis Katsampoxakis & Konstantinos Vergos, 2021. "COVID-19 and the Energy Price Volatility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    16. Wang, Xue-Chao & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Wang, Yutao & Foley, Aoife & Huisingh, Donald & Guan, Dabo & Dong, Xiaobin & Varbanov, Petar Sabev, 2021. "Unsustainable imbalances and inequities in Carbon-Water-Energy flows across the EU27," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Indre Siksnelyte-Butkiene, 2021. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Sustainability of the Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    18. Chaofeng Tang & Kentaka Aruga, 2021. "Relationships among the Fossil Fuel and Financial Markets during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Bayesian DCC-MGARCH Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, December.
    19. Aviad Navon & Ram Machlev & David Carmon & Abiodun Emmanuel Onile & Juri Belikov & Yoash Levron, 2021. "Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Energy Systems and Electric Power Grids—A Review of the Challenges Ahead," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Muhammad Waqas Rana & Sufang Zhang & Shahid Ali & Iqra Hamid, 2022. "Investigating Green Financing Factors to Entice Private Sector Investment in Renewables via Digital Media: Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development in the Post-COVID-19 Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s1364032121006857. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.