Glasgow club SWG3 is using dancers body heat to power the venue
The nightclub is aiming to go net zero
Scottish nightclub SWG3 is trialling a new system that will use the body heat from ravers to power the venue’s lights, music, and electricity.
The trial is part of November’s COP26 climate summit - an annual international event held this year in Glasgow. The United Nations conference will hold discussions around climate change and the prevention of further climate damage.
As of November, the trial will first launch in the Glaswegian venue of SWG3. The “renewable heating and cooling system” will work by transforming the heat emitted from dancers and staff into energy.
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‘BODYHEAT’, the technology used for the trial, uses pumps and fluids to capture the heat before “channelling their combined energy into twelve 150m-deep boreholes drilled beneath the venue,” according to SWG3’s official website.
“This heat can then either be used immediately to cool the audience, or stored under the ground until it's needed to heat the building,” it reads.
The human body supposedly emits 100 watts of excess heat - even before dancing or doing exercise. So, when ravers come together in the venue, the average heat excess should be raised enough to generate enough energy to power the entire venue.
This energy will then be put into powering electricity, gas, lighting, and of course - the soundsystem. The venue estimated that it will save 70 tonnes of CO2 annually with this new system in place.
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Andrew Fleming Brown, Managing Director of SWG3 said on the new trial:
“BODYHEAT is our innovative contribution to a global issue, and will help us to dramatically decrease our energy consumption - bringing us one step closer to becoming a carbon-neutral venue in the not-so-distant future."
The Glaswegian venue aims to go carbon neutral as part of Going Net Zero - a scheme helping venues and businesses across the globe to reduce their carbon emissions completely.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter