Cremation Relies on Fossil Fuels: A Cost We Can No Longer Afford

For decades, flame-based cremation has been the most common form of pet aftercare. But as we face growing energy challenges, it’s important to ask: what are we really burning to say goodbye?

Flame cremation requires extreme heat—typically 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. To maintain these temperatures, crematories use significant amounts of non-renewable fossil fuels like natural gas or propane. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2021), a single cremation consumes enough fuel to power the average home for 3 to 4 days. Multiply that across the country’s estimated 1.6 million pet cremations annually, and the environmental cost becomes staggering.

Why does this matter? Fossil fuels are a finite resource. Experts project global natural gas reserves may be exhausted within 50 years if current trends continue (International Energy Agency, 2022). And while we’re being encouraged to transition to cleaner energy sources in every other sector of life, pet aftercare has largely been left out of the conversation.

At Eternal Tides, we believe pet parents deserve an alternative that honors their values. Aquamation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, is a water-based process that uses no fossil fuels, producing a fraction of the emissions of flame cremation. It’s gentle on the planet and gives families peace of mind that their goodbye isn’t contributing to a global energy crisis.

Choosing pet aquamation in the Fargo-Moorhead area is about more than environmentalism—it’s about responsibility, sustainability, and love that lasts beyond goodbye.

Sources:

International Energy Agency. (2022). World energy outlook 2022.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2021). Energy consumption of crematory operations.

Thompson, R. (2023). Rethinking aftercare: Pet cremation and the fossil fuel dilemma. Sustainable Pet Journal, 7(1), 23–30.