In the News

Green crematorium draws fire

• Publication Date：10/07/2009
• Source： United Daily News

Taipei Second Funeral Parlor has gone green, with its new crematorium soon to feature the ability to convert heat generated from the cremator furnaces on the first floor into electricity to power the air-conditioning system for the waiting lounge on the second floor.

However, this environmentally friendly attribute of the crematorium has raised misgivings among members of the general public. During an interpellation session Oct. 6, Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung raised the issue, pointing out that from the standpoint of traditional customs, some family members of the deceased would not be able to accept such a facility.

The funeral parlor decided to install the energy conversion unit to cool the second floor of its crematorium that opened on Xinhai Road in February last year after numerous complaints by customers of the uncomfortably high temperatures in the waiting lounge during the summer months.

Installation of the system began in August and is expected to be completed later this month at a cost of more than NT$7.7 million (US$236,323).

Chuang questioned why the new system is being used specifically for the air-conditioning unit and not for the lighting, freezers and other facilities in the crematorium. Claiming that the city government, despite acting in an environmentally conscious manner, has disregarded the feelings of the citizens in its approach, he called for a review and discussion of the matter.

In response, Taipei City Secretariat Director Yang Hsi-an said that the energy conversion idea is based on the concept of ecological protection and is rational and sound. However, he added that the government can review how the energy generated by the conversion unit is to be used.

Huang Lu Jin-ru, commissioner of the city’s Department of Civil Affairs, promised to invite religious scholars to meet and discuss the matter and to gain their input.

Meanwhile, Tu Yin-hui, superintendent of the Taipei Mortuary Services Office, noted that direct emissions from the cremator furnaces, which reach as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius, cause air pollution. He explained that the new conversion unit not only recycles energy, it also helps to cut these emissions.

He stressed that people should not be concerned about the new unit as the heat to be converted into energy to power the air-conditioning is not generated directly from the cremation of the remains of the deceased.

The office said that the energy produced can be used not only to power the air-conditioning unit in the second-floor waiting lounge, but also those in the first-floor offices and cremation chamber area. (SB)