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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 12/18/2008 : 23:07:16
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According to "The Local": In a bid to increase energy efficiency, a town in western Sweden is planning to connect the local crematorium to its district heating system.
“To start with we're planning on heating our own facilities, but hopefully we can connect to the district heating network in the future,” said Halmstad cemetery administrator Lennart Andersson to the Aftonbladet newspaper.
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Andersson hopes the cemetery's plans don't offend anyone, insisting the effort is being undertaking strictly on the basis of its environmental benefits.
“There won't be anything different about the ashes,” he said. |
How do The Local's readers respond to the idea of warming Halmstad by chucking another Chuck into the furnace (or tossing another Barbie into the barbie)?
Funny you should ask. They ran a poll. The results:
I suspect that heating via burning trash might have been more controversial.
But wait! I have to ask: Are people carbon neutral?
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 12/19/2008 00:40:54
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 09:11:26 [Permalink]
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| Considering the enormous amounts of heat necessary to completely incinerate somebody, I find it amazing that noone has done it so far. |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 11:57:14 [Permalink]
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It's not cool...
I mean, the excess heat.
It should be put to good use.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 17:21:25 [Permalink]
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I wonder, in net, does cremation consume, or create heat? I mean, does most of the energy come from the gas (or whatever) used to cremate, or do the flammable materials in the bodies more than make up for that? I had assumed the bodies created most of the heat, but I suppose that may be wrong.
Certainly, if most of the heat is produced by external fuel, it is even a stronger argument to use the waste heat to prevent further carbon-burning for building heat. Or perhaps burial or composting would be the greenest way to dispose of our mortal shells.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 17:31:14 [Permalink]
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| Bodies don't burn all that well. You generally need to supply extra heat. Too much fluid. |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 17:34:37 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
I wonder, in net, does cremation consume, or create heat? I mean, does most of the energy come from the gas (or whatever) used to cremate, or do the flammable materials in the bodies more than make up for that? I had assumed the bodies created most of the heat, but I suppose that may be wrong. |
Burning tissue isn't really a problem, it's the skeleton. The amount of heat required to turn bone into ash is considerable: between 1400 degrees to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. I highly doubt burning bodies is capable of creating a net gain in energy, especially when total cremation (no leftover bits) is the desired outcome.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 19:08:37 [Permalink]
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In that case, it really does seem stupid to cremate. I'd hate for my last use on earth to be adding the carbon of both the natural gas used to incinerate my body, and that of my corpse, to the carbon dioxide that is the main cause of man-made global warming.
And here I'd thought cremation was the green way to go.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 19:42:55 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
And here I'd thought cremation was the green way to go. |
One of the greenest ways would be to have a sky burial and reenter the food chain. You have vultures out in California, right, Mooner? Or alternatively I've heard of marine critters making short work of a tasty corpse. Unfortunately, I'm assuming there are laws in the US against such practices.
I'd say you could donate your body to science, but I'm not sure what they'd do with your body once they're finished. If you were just practice for medical students, they'd probably cremate your remains eventually anyway. But if they steamed your skeleton clean and displayed you in a classroom, that might be pretty cool.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 12/19/2008 19:44:44 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2008 : 02:23:58 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by tomk80
Bodies don't burn all that well. You generally need to supply extra heat. Too much fluid.
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Indeed. Remember, Halfmooner, that the body is over 70% water.
Speaking of making good use of corpses... I heard you can make flying-potions from the body-fat of unbaptised young boys. That would be useful. Quick commuting to work, and no traffic to worry about.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2008 : 19:42:10 [Permalink]
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| Regarding donation for scientific use. You are embalmed and preserved for approximately 1 year prior to your corpse being used. Then after it's been used they typically cremate the corpse. At least that's the way it is in Colorado. That is what was explained in the two cadaver labs I've attended. |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2008 : 20:02:34 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Trish
Regarding donation for scientific use. You are embalmed and preserved for approximately 1 year prior to your corpse being used. Then after it's been used they typically cremate the corpse. At least that's the way it is in Colorado. That is what was explained in the two cadaver labs I've attended.
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I bet burning a corpse loaded with formaldehyde is real good for the atmosphere. Nope, when I go, which I don't expect to be anytime soon, I hope to be at least carbon neutral ("sky burial," mulching, or fish food) or even figure out a way to "sequester" my carbon from the cycle for a few millennia.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 12/20/2008 22:16:21 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2008 : 00:15:01 [Permalink]
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But if you don't donate your body to science, you miss out on a great joke: get a dotted-line tattoo down your spine, with the words "CUT HERE."
At least I've heard that the first thing done with donated cadavers by new anatomy students is a dissection of the spine. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Swedish town turns to novel biofuel for heating
