I found this article in the Arizona Star.  It introduces the idea of Alkaline Hydrolysis. Its not a new idea and has been used in Europe to dispose of animal carcasses for a while. Whats left is bones and the fluid content is washed down the drain. I don’t like the idea of “washing the remains down the drain”  but the fertilizer idea would be OK. Please note that the article cites James Olson from “the funeral directors group” as saying it has been in use in Europe. So far it is only being considered for use in funeral homes in Europe as pointed out to me by Ed Gazvoda from Cycled Life. (see his link in the comments)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The desire to be green has expanded to California’s funeral industry, which is pushing for a change in state law to allow for an eco-friendlier alternative to cremation and burial: water resolution.

Also known as alkaline hydrolysis, biocremation or resomation, the technology uses heated water, potassium hydroxide and turbulence to dissolve body tissue within three to four hours.

The end results: pure white bones that can be pulverized into a substance similar to ash and a liquid that proponents say is a sterile, environmentally safe solution that can be safely washed down the drain or even used to water plants.

The technology has been in use for more than a decade, mostly by research laboratories that dispose of animal remains. But soon, California residents may have the option at the mortuary as well.

State Assemblyman Jeff Miller, R-Corona, has introduced a bill that would add the process to the list of legally allowable ways mortuaries can deal with human remains.

Supporters say it will offer environmentally conscious consumers a way to avoid the pitfalls of traditional end-of-life options.

Cremation uses fossil fuels and is regulated by environmental officials because of the air emissions. Burials also pose environmental challenges because embalming fluids are generally made of chemicals, including formaldehyde, that eventually leak into the ground. There’s also less and less space for cemeteries, especially in dense urban areas such as the Bay Area.

The technology has already been approved in several other states, and a funeral home in Florida will soon be the first place in the nation to offer it to the public, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.

Miller said he anticipates no problems getting his proposal through the Legislature.

The Catholic Church’s National Bioethics Center has given its blessing to the procedure, and the Department of Anatomy at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has been using the process – its website refers to it as “chemical cremation” – on cadavers donated for research. In Europe, it’s been used at funeral homes for years, said James Olson, a spokesman for the funeral directors group.

The process is fairly simple: A body is placed into a large stainless steel machine with water and potassium hydroxide, an inorganic compound. It is then heated to more than 300 degrees. Turbulence created by the machine helps speed the decomposition process, dissolving flesh and soft tissue.

Today, modern cremation is the second most popular choice for almost 40 percent of the United States population as an acceptable form of funeral rite and as opposed to the physical internment of a deceased person into the ground. Reasons may be personal belief (religious or secular), economic considerations, or reasons involving the safety of the environment.

Cremation occurs within a crematorium complete with an industrial type furnace. Typically, by placing a body in the retort or chamber of the furnace, it is incinerated and almost completely consumed by fire. The burning of propane or natural gas provides temperatures of 1,598-1,796 ° F and the heat level ensures the body is reduced to bone fragments with all other soft tissue vaporized or oxidized as vented gas.

Cremations in general are also cheaper than the labor and material intensive internment process incurred for a traditional burial. The cost may be as little as twenty percent of a traditional burial as embalming is not necessary, nor is a gravesite, casket or vault. The cremated remains are usually transferred to an urn, scattered at sea, and in some cases, incorporated into jewelry or other pieces of artwork. Some people may even opt to be blasted into space, become part of a living reef, or turned into a diamond.

Even so, cremations have been around since humans have existed. Open air cremations were accomplished with the use of a funeral pyre, which is a structure where a deceased body is destroyed by burning with flammable materials, most typically with wood. For many, the use of open air cremation was believed to be a purifying event and released the soul. In fact, the burning of bodies has been used often in recent times due to animals or humans that died as a result of a catastrophic event, and to prevent or kill diseases. Fire completely destroys viruses and other pathogens.

Choosing an open air cremation may be based on religious reasons. Recently, a British Hindu, 71-year-old Davender Ghai, from Newcastle, won the right to open air cremation. Yet, his winning was not based on his religious beliefs, but instead on building codes involving crematoriums. Therefore, provided the cremation occurred within a structure surrounded by four walls and away from urban areas and homes, Ghai will get his wish. Only the roof will be absent in order to let the ensuing gases and chemicals to escape.

In the United States, a group known as Crestone End of Life Project, located in Crestone, Colorado, also offers a limited number of open air cremations for its members. Although not yet widely accepted in most parts of the United States, open air cremation does offer the option of an “eco-friendly and green” funeral ceremony. Whether this method of cremation will become popular and depending on if a significant number of people are interested, remains to be seen.

Sources:
Cremation by Funeral Pyre, TheFuneralSite.com
Video: The end of life, Creston End of Life Project
Crestone End-of-Life Project, 2008
British Hindu wins right to cremation in ‘enclosed’ funeral pyre, by dpa, February 10 2010
Cremation Association of North America (CANA), 2010