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Our European friends have decided to reduce waste, and discovered a new heat source. Well, it may not exactly be new, prototypes were used during WW II.
Turns out human bodies combust exothermically in an incinerator. The UK is using aborted humans to help create heat and power. I wonder if we couldn't extend the concept a bit, recycle uncle Bill for a $10 electric credit next month?
The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies were incinerated as clinical waste, with some even used to heat hospitals, an investigation has found.
Ten NHS trusts have admitted burning foetal remains alongside other rubbish while two others used the bodies in ‘waste-to-energy’ plants which generate power for heat.
Fat is the key to extract energy, and from what I read, the U.S. is a veritable cornucopia of lard walking around on 2 feet.
If the concept bothers you, turn off your computer. Because of the interconnectedness of the web, at some point you are using power generated from that and other sources. Think how green you will be by not using all those electrons.
I say this is a bogus, sensationalistic story that has no legitimate place on the Green Living forum.
Incineration of surgical waste, including human tissue, has been SOP at hospitals around the world for many decades. Cremation is not an exothermic process because the human body is primarily made of water. This wacky idea probably belongs over on the Unexplained Mysteries and Paranormal forum.
I say this is a bogus, sensationalistic story that has no legitimate place on the Green Living forum.
First, this was used according to the story as a green source of energy. Second, people routinely have donor cards for organs, why not donor cards for energy?
I have 3 relatives sitting cremated on a shelf. Would their death be less dignified providing energy to the living vs collecting dust on a shelf?
Two words. Electric vibrator.
IIRC, there were some experiments done, and a body that is somewhat dehydrated through illness or being kept in a very warm room can maintain combustion if kept in a small space where the heat isn't immediately lost to the free air, and especially if there is a wicking/insulating action, such as from a wool blanket.
I call B.S. on the story, and on its posting here under a deceptive title.
The fact that fetuses may have been incinerated in hospital incinerators that have co-generation systems to harvest waste-heat does not equate to generating heat from burning them. That's pure misrepresentation.
The fact is that cremating human tissue has a high energy cost, due to our high water content, and the high temperatures needed to completely break down human remains. Various experts have pegged the energy expenditure required for an average adult cremation at 29 kWh, or enough fossil fuel to drive 4,800 miles.
Seriously, this thread has nothing to do with Green Living.
I call B.S. on the story, and on its posting here under a deceptive title.
I am new here, and will defer to your judgment. If you don't mind a suggestion, try to google green cremation. There are numerous methods already in place for green cremation, and with slightly different preparation than we use today the combustion of a human body can be exothermic (it needs to be dehydrated a bit). Burial of human remains uses space, and resources such as steel, cement, and other non-green resources. There are several TED talks about green cremation. These seemed interesting to me, I'm guessing some are offended. I do not propose anyone be forced to cremate, but I think encouraging cremation is a good thing for the environment. I admit to having a bit of a sense of humor, which maybe wasn't appropriate to mix in with this subject, for that please accept my apology.
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