Submission + - New Life for Waste Heat from Crematoriums
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Justin Nobel writes that waste heat from a local crematory will soon heat water that will be piped to a nearby recreation center to heat the pool and the rest of the facility, saving about $23,000 a year in heating costs but some are asking if the process honors the dead or exploits them. “People are dying anyway, and many choose to be cremated," says Ceridwen John, the climate change manager in Redditch, England where the system is being installed. "Our options are to expel the waste heat into the atmosphere or to do something useful with it.” Redditch is acting in response to recent European Union legislation that requires crematories to reduce mercury emissions by 50 percent by 2013. Extracting the harmful mercury from dental fillings requires cooling flue gas from 800 degrees Centigrade to 150 degrees so the waste heat is pumped through a heat exchanger where it can be used to generate power. Will crematory heat ever become popular in the US? "Some grieving families like the idea of their loved ones 'giving back something'," says Tim Morris, chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management. "I see that becoming predominant, and this research as an opportunity to do something innovative and respectful to the funeral mourning process.""
