One day soon, the citizens of Denver might be heating and cooling the buildings they work and live in through the power of their own poop. According to NPR, the city is moving ahead with a plan to replace part of its fossil-fuel-powered steam system with a much cleaner thermal energy network fueled by water, geothermal heat, and the not-at-all-clean power of sewage.
Denver’s downtown is powered by one of the oldest commercial steam systems in the world. It dates back to the 1800s, and it’s powered by natural gas. It’s old and outdated. Yet it still heats more than 100 buildings, even though maintaining it is expensive and incompatible with the city’s goal of limiting greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
The plan is to retrofit parts of the old system with what officials call an “ambient loop,” a giant ring of underground water pipes connecting buildings. Heat pumps in each building would draw heat from the loop during the winter and release excess heat back into it during the summer. Since the system is one big connected loop, buildings can theoretically share energy, maximizing efficiency.
A building that’s too hot could dump some of its heat to the benefit of a building that’s too cold. That’s how it works, but now for what you’re all interested in: how does pee and poop factor into this?
Denver Might Soon Heat Buildings With Sewage, Because the Future Is Gross but Efficient
The idea is to capture thermal energy from wastewater flowing through city sewer lines. Wastewater is a broad term that encompasses more than just the contents of a flushed toilet, though that is definitely one of its sources. Water from the laundry, from every shower taken, and from every dishwasher will feed into the system, powering itself through the day-to-day water-pipe use of the people taking advantage of it.
NPR spoke to researchers who estimate that the wastewater Denver’s citizens will be pushing around in an elaborate heat-exchange system contains several times more thermal energy than the city’s existing steam network uses in winter.
There is unimaginable, untapped power in every flushed toilet, in every too-long shower. Yes, you may be doubled over in pain as you sit on the toilet trying to fire out that salmon you know you shouldn’t have trusted, but take heart knowing that your violent bout of diarrhea is warming someone else’s home.
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