SoylentVOLT Green Is People
Local governments in Britain are planning to burn human bodies for electricity. No, really, they are.
Heat created by burning the dead at crematoria could be used to keep mourners warm under plans to make funerals more environmentally-friendly.
Instead of letting the gases emitted by cremation escape into the atmosphere, councils want to use them to heat radiators or even generate electricity.
They admit some might find the idea of being kept warm by the remains of their loved-ones macabre.
But there are thought to be no religious objections, and ever-tighter controls on pollution mean such systems could become commonplace.
Harmful mercury emissions are created by cremating those with old tooth fillings. To meet tough pollution targets, councils are having to fit filters to crematoria.
Cremation requires temperatures of as much as 1,000C but this must be reduced to around 160C for the mercury to be removed, which requires heat exchangers to be installed in chimneys.
This involves passing the hot fumes through what are effectively cold water radiators. They absorb much of the heat and it is this which can be reused.
Tameside Council in Greater Manchester is planning to link heat exchangers at Dukinfield Crematorium with its boiler system and hopes to use it to generate electricity through turbines.
Soylent Green comes true, in a slightly different way. So far.
Absolutely anything I write about this is going to produce a Godwin's Law violation. I'll leave it at that.
Civilization, Energy, Environment | Gaius Tuesday, 8 January , 2008
By Maggie, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 10:55 am
OMG! How did Hitler and the Nazis miss out on this? Imagine the money they could have saved had they thought about doing this with those 24/7 crematories they ran during WWII! It was possibly history’s most major “missed opportunity” !! Hell, they might have had a better chance at winning the war … jeeze!
Well, “you go” Britain! With this and your socialized practices in prenatal testing and brow-beating abortion advice, you are on track for becoming a quite “posh” fascist state … Now, all you need is that radical Islamic factor to “kick-in” and convert you all over to Sharia Law …
Go for it!
By Maggie, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 10:57 am
Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies
There, Gaius, I did it so you didn’t have to … and made a direct link to today’s impending connections.
By sam, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 11:56 am
This fits in really well with the British Health Service telling people to heal themselves. There will be a steady supply of “fuel”.
By NortonPete, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 12:27 pm
A number of the commenters at the dailymail brought up a good point. Its not the heat from the bodies being reclaimed, rather it is the lost heat from all the gas that needs to be burned to cremate a body. When you think about it, cremation is not in tune with today’s carbon footprint concerns. We were told at one time that cremation was the way to go because you didn’t take up a plot of land but now it doesn’t appear to be “green”.
Soylent Green was a favorite of mine but I haven’y seen it in 20+ years. I had never heard of Goodwin’s Law but have seen proof of it all over the place.
By Bob, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 3:11 pm
With every year, it is ever more obvious that Germany lost WWII, but the Nazis won it.
By miriam, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 4:54 pm
What a revolting idea–putting the dead to good use. In our country, however, we cannot spare dead bodies. We favor burial because we need those corpses to rise from their graves on election day and vote for the Democrats. Especially around Chicago.
By BlogDog, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 5:55 pm
England has gone from Alfred the Great to “Alfred! The grate.”
Natalie Cole had better not plan to tour.
Rock bands that face their demise: Fuel, Midnight Oil….
By BlogDog, Tuesday, 8 January , 2008 @ 5:56 pm
How could I forget: There’s no fuel like an old fuel.
By Maggie, Wednesday, 9 January , 2008 @ 1:23 am
BlogDog -
Gives The Cult’s “Fire Woman” new meaning, eh?
By martian, Wednesday, 9 January , 2008 @ 10:50 am
This goes hand in hand with British Socialized medicine. People wait longer for substandard treatment, thus producing more bodies to burn for fuel. As the fuel needs rise just start pulling the plug earlier and earlier on those whose survival is questionable. I wonder if any of this was influenced by Jonathan Swift?