In a study that could apply to politicians around the world, students of a British university have measured the debates by MPs in Parliament to find that they release up to 10.34 kilowatts (KW) of power, as a result
of their vocal exertions.
According to physics students from the University of Leicester, the “hot air” produced by 650 MPs debating in the
House of Commons releases energy equivalent to about 1,000 energy-saving light bulbs or 200 old fashioned ones.
They published the findings in a paper entitled ‘Hot Air in the House of Commons’ in the university’s ‘Journal of
Physics Special Topics’, published annually by students in the final year of their four-year Master of Physics degree at the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
We assumed the hot air output is the same for members of all parties and will stay the same in the future, regardless of who wins the next elections,” said Daniel Staab, co-author of the paper.
Staab, alongside three other students, calculated the power generated from heat flow as MPs breathe in air, heat the air to body temperature in their lungs before breathing out the air back into the room.
They took into account the heat capacity and density of air as well as average volume flow rates during prolonged
talking – and found that 2.54 KW would be generated by the 650 MPs.
They also calculated the power output created as water vapour from the MPs’ exhaled breath condenses into liquid and found this would add a further 7.8 KW for 650 MPs, bringing the total output to 10.34 KW.
Staab, 23, Emily Jane Watkinson, 22, Maria-Theresia Walach, 22, and Zach Rogerson, 22, stressed their findings
were based on the assumptions that all MPs are present and talking continuously – and that there is equal hot air
production regardless of party affiliation.
They also found the chamber’s historic construction does not capture the heat generated by the MPs, and so most of it is lost through the roof.
In a subsequent paper, ‘Heat Loss in the House of Commons’, the students examined whether the heat from the MPs
could be used as an alternative method of heating the Commons chamber.
“Unfortunately, to keep the temperature in the chamber at a pleasant 20 degree Celsius, you would have to turn the heating on as soon as the outside drops below 19.8 degree Celsius. So it isn’t much use with our weather,” said Watkinson, adding that new insulation installed as part of the general renovation of Westminster Palace in London could make the MPs heat output more useful and reduce the energy bills of future Parliaments.
A lot of the papers published in the journal are on subjects that are amusing, topical, or a bit off-the-wall. Our fourth years are nothing if not creative,” said course leader and lecturer Mervyn Roy.
———–PTI