Alternatives To Burial: Open Air Cremation

Carbon emissions and their impact on global climate change are an ever-growing concern. But since 2017, there have been no studies examining the environmental impact of the Crestone funeral pyre, most likely because it is the only facility of its kind in the U.S. 

However, a 2013 study reported in Chemical & Engineering News found that funeral pyres in South Asia, where open-air cremation is commonplace, release large amounts of carbon-rich aerosolized particles known as “brown carbon” into the atmosphere. These particles absorb solar radiation and retain heat, thus contributing to global warming. After carbon dioxide, they are the single largest contributor to man-made climate change. 

The above-noted study was conducted by researchers from the Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education. Somewhat surprisingly, they found that funeral pyres produced 53 times more organic carbon aerosols per unit of mass burned than biofuels used for household cooking and heating. This is probably due to inefficient burning and the type of fuel used for the pyres, which is dictated by Hindu scripture and includes mango and salt trees, said Rajan K. Chakrabarty, who co-authored the study. Although not significant on a global scale, these emissions are an important contributor to carbon aerosols in the region, especially in India and Nepal, where approximately 7 million open-air cremations occur every year. The pyres also contribute to the pollution of nearby waterways and the destruction of millions of trees each year. 

There is some good news on the horizon, however. Since 1992, the nonprofit Mokshda Green Cremation System has been promoting greener cremation by providing communities in India with access to more fuel-efficient funeral pyres. These more modern structures consist of metal trays heated with firewood, which takes less time to heat up and uses less wood than a traditional funeral pyre. According to Mokshda’s director Anshul Garg, the system decreases the amount of wood needed for one cremation by about one-fourth. 

Since the 1990s, the system has slowly gained acceptance in deeply tradition-bound Indian communities, and more than 150,000 cremations using the system have taken place. According to Mokshda’s program officer Chitra Kesarwani, the switch has saved over 480,000 trees, prevented 60,000 metric tons of ash from entering nearby rivers and decreased greenhouse gas emissions by 60,000 metric tons. 

Sources

“Funeral Pyres Release Atmosphere-Warming Aerosols”. Chemical & Engineering News. http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/10/Funeral-Pyres-Release-Atmosphere-Warming.html 

“In India, Eco-Friendly Cremation Is Easy — But It’s A Tough Sell”. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/05/10/477350818/in-india-eco-friendly-cremation-is-easy-but-its-a-tough-sell 
“The environmental toll of cremating the dead.” National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/is-cremation-environmentally-friendly-heres-the-science