A crematorium in England is implementing a system that will allow it to harvest energy from the cremation of people, and then sell that energy back to the grid writes Natalie Wolchover. Highlights:

• A typical turbine system costs between $250,000 and $500,000.
• A single cremation can create enough energy to power 1,500 televisions for an hour.
• In Europe burners run 24 hours a day. This means that the turbine system should pay back its cost in five years.
• In the US where burials are more common, crematoriums only run eight hours a day meaning that it could take 20 years to pay back the cost.
• This means the system is unlikely to come to the US soon – but as the baby-boomers begin to die it might become economically feasible to install such systems in the states.

You can find other details including precisely how much energy each cremation can generate, how it is a green technology, why it’s not just the popularity of cremation in Europe that makes it an appealing business strategy, the future of cremation in America, the potential popularity of a cheaper turbine, and what industry insiders have to say, click here.

Source: MSNBC

Via: Freakonomics