Monday, December 13, 2010

The odor of sanctity?

According to Joe Carter, writing in the First Things blog the Pope’s summer home will soon be heated by "horse flatulence".

Mr. Carter is passing on a story in Inhabitat, a blog "devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future."

The Vatican, says Inhabitat, is doing its utmost to make itself "the greenest state in the world", which shouldn't be hard (Mr. Carter says) since the Vatican is the smallest state in the world. [Not San Marino? Ed.]

There are rumors that Vatican officials are researching a more environmentally friendly equivalent to the the Popemobile. They hope that an electric vehicle can be found to substitute for the iconic motor vehicle used by the Pope when visiting foreign states or making outdoor public appearances.

Perhaps, though, they should be thinking about a horse-drawn carriage. It seems the Vatican does have horses, although the point of keeping them is something of a mystery.

Being horses and eating oats or whatever, the Papal ponies produce a certain amount of equine flatulence. So, Inhabitat tells us, the Pope’s summer residence is being outfitted to harness the methane generated by the horse stables!

Now if they could only find a way to heat the buildings with some of the hot air generated by Cardinals Bertone, Kasper and others, they'd really be showing a commitment to reducing the Vatican's greenhouse gas emissions.

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