Waste heat can be recovered as relatively green energy

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value.” — R. Buckminster Fuller — http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rbuckmins101926.html

Not normally considered a “pollutant”, but data centres spend a great deal of money on infrastructure, energy & other running costs to remove the heat produced by servers. In accordance with the advice of Buckminster Fuller, above, heat in data centres is coming to be seen as a resource:

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/03/18/energy-efficiency-guide-heat-recycling/

A startup in the Netherlands has plans to move servers to homes for heating:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098438_computers-to-heat-your-home-startup-nerdalize-distributes-server-farms-to-dutch-residences

Poultry & pig farmers can reduce energy bills by 65% by capturing waste heat:

http://www.worldpoultry.net/Broilers/Housing/2014/10/Re-using-heat-reduces-energy-bill-by-65-1621821W/

Refineries & incinerators:

http://www.howwegettonext.com/Article/VMJq9ysAAJBS0upw/gothenburgs-heating-grid-transforms-garbage-into-warmth#.VWQuyzY4bTY

Even heat from the water in your shower:

http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/save-dollars-planet-with-ecodrain-video.html / Swedish city Gothenburg electrical grid heat pipes warm water refineries incinerators apartment buildings city cheap green heating winter temperatures drop below freezing several months of the year Nordic countries Manhattan’s iconic steam system district heating Sheffield Southampton Nottingham Britain warm parts city center waste incinerators connected hot water networks scope expansion industry London wastes enough heat to supply 70 percent calefaction needs heat energy energy waste wasted circulating Jonas Cognell Göteborg Energi municipally owned company network pipes Sweden major industrial areas oil refinery port Finnish energy giant ST1 waste incinerator operated local recycling company Renova extracts heat city’s sewer system Renova’s plant incinerates household trash recycled burning 535,000 tonnes plant maze of piping cleaning waste burned treat the waste energy recovered heating electricity fossil fuels Christian Löwhagen Renova positive for the environment landfill plant productive Gothenburg waste combustible waste extra capacity good business positive effect environment British landfill Löwhagen 1,778,000 megawatt-hours megaWatt hours MWh Gothenburg’s district heating system waste-to-energy incineration recycling Sweden recycles waste network of pipes network system interconnected harvesting heat from heavy industry waste heat district heating network renewable biomass burning gas-fired cogeneration plant produces power electricity fossil fuels high proportion industrial waste heat far lower prices distribution systems Sweden more expensive Europe European waste heat reuse energy wasted improving study visits plant technology /