Earlier this week I went to a funeral at Barton Glebe Burial Ground . It is a beautiful place and when I die I would like to be buried there, if anywhere. Cremation is still the most common burial method in the UK but Woodland burials are gaining ground.
I have posted on this subject once before [1] but it was back in 2012 . Most cremations use natural gas to burn the body, ensuring a high temperature and complete combustion. However this also generates carbon emissions. Recently I have heard of electric powered crematoria [2] and even hydrogen to replace natural gas [3] though not many places have these facilities. The electrical option may mean upgrading electricity supply and the hydrogen option has potential safely issues and difficult supply logistics. However either approach vastly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Other options for the future include resomation (also called water cremation) or composting. However composting is not currently legal in the UK and resomation is not widely available. (Co-op Funeral Care does offer it).
When writing my earlier post, I was surprised that the emissions from mourners' cars travelling to the service were only a little lower than the emissions from the natural gas furnace. These can be reduced substantially by encouraging mourners to car share, or use public transport, or live stream the service so they do not have to travel at all.
[1] How Green is my Crematorium (This blog, 2012)
[2] Worcester City Council Electric cremators to be considered for crematorium (Worcester City Council News Blog, 2025 [3]
[3] University of Brighton researchers helping test world’s first hydrogen-powered crematorium (University of Brighton, 2024)
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