London to be Heated with Underground Trains and Food Waste

Getting your mind around the carbon statistics involved in keeping London warm is like trying to make sense of the figures that astronomers toss about when they’re talking about the size of the universe — pretty much impossible to do. According to a 2006 climate change report, the average Briton uses 1.49 tonnes of carbon every year in preventing death-by-freezing. Multiplying that by London’s population — 8.3 million — gives the staggering figure of 12.3 million.

The good news is that Mayor Boris Johnson wants to do something about it. He's planning to reduce London's annual carbon usage by 3.5 million tonnes by 2025, through the increased use of secondary heat sources and decentralisation. So, in the search for solutions, renewable energy experts are getting creative. In May 2013, construction began on a 'fat plant', which will see the transformation of the fat balls, grease and oils found in London's sewers into heat.

And as of late last year, the Underground is getting ready to do its bit. Johnson, the Islington Council, UK Power Networks and Transport for London have hatched a plan to transfer the heat generated by the tube and a local substation into at least 500 homes. The project, the first of its kind in Europe, will not only decrease the city's carbon footprint, it'll also reduce power bills for the households involved.

At the same time, New York's Department of Sanitation is set to expand a pilot program that has seen 5,000 homes heated with the energy generated from food waste. The organic matter is collected from homes and schools and taken to the Newtown Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is mixed with waste water and transformed into biogas.

Via Springwise. Image by smaedli via photopin cc.