The Power of Dancing creates Body Heat, Renewable Energy, and Tourism

After more than two years of lockdown, closed venues, and social distancing, the world is ready to come together, dance, and feel the body heat.

This is not only helping to rebuild tourism, but also social connections and energy. What if this energy can be converted into clean renewable energy, directly helping the fight against climate change?

This would be the real combined power of dancing!

Founded in 2013 by David Townsend, TownRock Energy Limited is a geothermal UK energy consultancy based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the leading specialist in all aspects of the UK’s geothermal resources. The mission is to access the abundant geothermal energy of the earth’s subsurface to provide zero-carbon, 24-hour renewable heating and cooling to industrial, commercial, and domestic energy users.

“The company is a passionate, innovative, and diverse company that strives to minimize the energy industry’s negative impact on the environment. We support all sustainable and safe methods of non-fossil low-carbon energy generation to help mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change”, founder  David Townsend said.

Geothermal energy technology is a relatively new path to unlocking clean energy and is often poorly appreciated or understood. “Our small dedicated team prides itself in taking a clear and strategic approach to assisting clients and partners realize the value of the geological asset beneath their site.”

The power of dance? It’s literal at a Glasgow arts center that is installing a geothermal heating and cooling system that runs on heat from those that are dancing at participating nightclubs.

When restrictions began to loosen, teeming dance floors became a symbol of recovery around the world. At SWG3 — an arts center in Glasgow, Scotland, the appetite for such events has been stronger than ever, and it’s fueled by the long period of time we were all denied it, said a club manager. “We’ve missed that shared body heat experience, being packed together in a full venue.”

What if dance-floor catharsis could be good not only for the soul but also for the planet?

SWG3 and the geothermal energy consultancy TownRock Energy have begun installing a new renewable special heating and cooling system.

It captures the heat generated by those in the club, specifically those dancing.

The plan should eventually reduce SWG3’s total carbon output by 60 to 70 percent. And it may be replicable. TownRock and SWG3 recently started a company to help other event spaces implement similar technology.

Dancing for Climate change, what a great idea.

Why not collect the heat you’ve already got in your customers and then use the ground to store it?”

At rest, the human body produces about 100 watts of energy. When dancing this number can easily go up to 500 or even 600 watts.

Dr. Selina Shah, a specialist in dance and sports medicine, explained to the New York Times last year, a club dance floor can be especially good at creating heat. “If it’s really high-energy music, that generally results in very fast and high-energy movement, so you’re looking at a significant level of heat generation — potentially even the equivalent of running.”

New York Times explains in its article: “To capture that energy at SWG3, TownRock developed an application for an already widespread technology: the heat pump. One of the most common heat pumps is the refrigerator, which maintains a cold interior by moving warm air to its exterior. The SWG3 system, called Bodyheat, will cool the space by transferring the heat of dancing clubbers not into the atmosphere, as in conventional cooling, but into 12 boreholes approximately 500 feet deep. The boreholes will turn a large cube of underground rock into a thermal battery, storing the energy so it can be used to supply heat and hot water to the building.”

A conventional heating and cooling system in a nightclub could cost £30,000 to $53,000. Phase one of Bodyheat will require an outlay of £350,000, or $464,000.

Fleming-Brown estimates that savings on energy bills will make the investment recoverable in about five years.

While developing Bodyheat, Townsend and Fleming-Brown realized their system could work elsewhere, too. The new TownRock and SWG3 joint venture Bodyheat Club, established in November, aims to help a range of event spaces and gyms refit their buildings with some version of Bodyheat. The Berlin gay club SchwuZ, a British chain of gyms, and the Scottish arts council, which runs a variety of creative spaces, have already expressed interest.

Whilst the pilot system is being installed in a nightclub, BODYHEAT can be used anywhere there’s a crowd – venues, gyms, offices. We’re even exploring a mobile system for festivals.

“Installing and becoming certified for this pioneering technology is a way of showing customers, stakeholders, and others in your industry that you genuinely care about future generations, and this fragile planet we call home.”, says a BODYHEAT spokesperson.

Gyms, with their emphasis on aerobic exercise, seem like more obvious fits for projects that harness the work of the body. Townsend mentioned that in addition to capturing body heat, gyms could use equipment like stationary bikes to help generate electricity.

Such measures will allow for the club and music venue to operate more sustainably.

Dancing is not the only new approach to capture body heat and turn it into a solution for climate change.

CELLIANT is a proprietary blend of naturally occurring, ethically sourced natural minerals that are embedded in yarn or applied as a coating on fabrics. The minerals capture and convert body heat into infrared energy, increasing local circulation and improving cellular oxygenation.

CELLIANT powers the world’s leading performance apparel, workwear and upholstery because of its ability to absorb the body’s heat and transform it into full-spectrum infrared energy.
This energy is returned to the body, providing improved strength, speed and endurance.