NHS data suggests the gas, used to keep people unconscious during surgery, has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide. Banning it across NHS hospitals in England would cut harmful emissions equivalent to those caused by powering 11,000 homes every year, according to NHS analysis of desflurane use in 2020. "Overall, anaesthetic gasses make up about 2-5% of the NHS's carbon footprint, and efforts are under way to tackle other medical gases like nitrous oxide