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Crematoriums heating nation’s homes
The recently deceased are helping people stay warm for the winter
Many of the country’s crematoriums are sending the heat from cremated bodies to district heating facilities for distribution to homes, according to a survey from labour union newsletter 3F.
Aalborg Crematorium has been transferring its heat to energy companies since April, using the leftover heat from the cooling of flue gasses. Holstebro, Randers, Hillerød, Svendborg, Hjørring and Copenhagen suburb Glostrup will soon also be sending their excess heat out for distribution.
And when the new ‘super-crematorium’ in Ringsted is finished in 2012, it too will help heat homes, The facility on Zealand will be able to provide heat equalling the annual usage of 100 single family houses.
‘It’s the most sensible way to get rid of the excess heat,’ said Ernst Jensen, engineer with the Association of Danish Crematoriums. ‘That way the crematoriums can avoid having to have cooling towers, which are expensive, noisy and require a lot of energy.’
The law requires crematoriums to install a filter that takes mercury out of the fumes resulting from cremation. Prior to that the fumes have to be cooled down from around 1000 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees to prevent the filter from melting.
The cooling heats large quantities of hot water which serves as the conduit to supply energy companies with heat for district heating.
In 2006, the issue of using human bodies for district heating was brought before the Ethics Council, which determined that the procedure did not amount to ‘indecent treatment of a human body’.
The Copenhagen Post
