Resting in (low carbon) Peace
Greener Energy Futures (GEF), a Bristol-based environmental consultancy, have teamed up with a City Council in England to identify areas for carbon reduction. The consultancy created decarbonisation plans for several buildings, including schools and offices, with findings that the local crematorium, one of the Council’s largest users of fossil fuels, emitted 218 tonnes of CO2e. The project, which took place from August to September 2021, also saw GEF partner with Erebus Environment to provide detailed research to inform energy-saving recommendations.
Some of the suggestions to reduce emissions included electric cremation, however, this is considered expensive to operate because of relative prices of gas and power. Other suggestions concerned resomation, or alkaline hydrolysis, which is a chemical method that is widely used in North America, but it is currently blocked by UK water companies due to liquid waste emissions. Another recommendation was recomposing, or accelerated composting, which is a slow process and cannot meet much demand. Finally, promession involves freezing the body, followed by agitation into dust, but this is still in developmental stages in Sweden.
Furthermore, the team identified that some of the excess heat has already been received by the exchangers for space heating on site. However, questions remain on how the Council wishes to decarbonise the building to meet their net zero targets.
Simon Pyne, Founder of Greener Energy Futures, said:
“With the focus toward sustainability rising due to COP26, organisations need to look at ways to meet their net zero ambitions. These findings highlight one of many challenges organisations are likely to face in moving away from a carbon economy. It all starts with recognising the need to lower emissions, to reduce costs whilst creating a healthier world to live in.”
Greener Energy Futures have helped clients identify 400 tonnes of carbon savings annually and sourced project funding worth >£3m. Recently, GEF partnered with a large global medical manufacturer, finding that half of the organisation’s carbon footprint was the result of just air and road freights transporting products, despite a large manufacturing presence.