The neglected clean heat we flush down the drains

The neglected clean heat we flush down the drains Getty Images In the False Creek suburb in Vancouver, the waste heat from sewage is being captured and put to good use In this part of Vancouver, innovative technology is harnessing heat from wastewater and using it as a renewable energy source to heat homes. "There's enough heat in the sewerage system to literally heat up neighbourhoods," remarks Derek Pope, manager of neighbourhood energy for the city of Vancouver, Canada. City of Vancouver Inside the False Creek facility, heat pump technology is used to heat up clean, fresh water on a separate circuit from the wastewater Heat in water is relatively easy to harness once it's in the sewage system because it's contained – and no, any heat recovered isn't going to smell. "In each building, heat exchangers transfer heat out from the closed-loop water system into the buildings' heat system and domestic hot water pipes, then cool water recirculates back to the energy plant," Pope explains. "That's a big milestone for the utility," says Pope who has noticed "an explosion" of district energy systems across the Greater Vancouver region, with many using or planning to use sewage heat as their primary source of energy, as opposed to fossil fuels such as natural gas.