According to a report by the BBC, each individual creates about 100 watts of heat but this is noticeably increased when doing non-vigorous activities such as shopping or eating. The Central Station in Stockholm is the ideal place, whereby around 250,000 people pass through per day and there is surplus of body heat. The question is how is the body heat used for heating?
One of the creators of this eco-friendly system explained that it is the simple usage of heat exchangers. These are installed into the ventilation system and convert the surplus amount of body heat into hot water which is then passed through the office building next to the station.
This new, innovative way of collecting heat from passengers means the heating costs for the adjacent building has cut its heating bill by 25% and has minimized their carbon footprint. This type of creative thinking highlights the notions that we could see a massive reduction in the use of carbon-based fuels and find new ways to use remarkable renewable energies, such as the well-abundant human body heat for other uses.
