Recycling the Heat of Cremation: Taipei

In January, I posted a story about a town in Sweden that decided to recycle the heat from it’s crematory. This concept seemed creepy to some of the residents, but it’s important to remember that natural gas, and not the human remains, is the fuel creating the heat and energy. It is the enormous amount of heat required to accomplish the combustion of the remains that is tapped to generate the energy. By recycling this heat, the energy is not just lost to the atmosphere, and cremation becomes a greener process in the bargain.

Now recycling crematory heat is in the news again. As reported in the Taipei Times on October 7th, Taipei City Government has plans to recycle the heat of cremation at one of the City’s public funeral parlors. Heat transfer machines will transform the heat of cremations into electricity that could, in turn be used to power air conditioning in the waiting room of the facility.

Again the emotional responses to recycling are mired in the misconception that the bodied are providing the fuel to produce the electricity.

Here is an excerpt from the Taipei Times article:

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) yesterday challenged the office’s plan and urged it to take public perceptions into consideration. “I admire the city government for having such a creative idea, but for family members, it is just creepy to have air conditioning generated from burning bodies,” he said. Chuang said the energy could be put to other purposes out of respect for the feelings of the mourners.

Clearly if this kind of recycling is to move forward, the hurdle of this misconception will need to be overcome.