Opinion
“Recent dips in oil prices has made the benefit of heat pumps a more challenging argument
for installers” p38 Clare Campbell, Dimplex
Improving air quality
Robert Burke, HETAS, warns that the reputation of the entire biomass sector
is at stake if the persistent problem of illegal wood burning is not successfully
extinguished
ir quality is an issue which is
often reported in the press, and
you may have seen articles
reporting on air quality issues
in London in particular. The
UK hasn’t achieved targets regarding NOx
emissions and is being prosecuted by the
EU. This is in a bid to force the government
to put a revised action plan in place to bring
air quality up to scratch more quickly than
current measures will achieve.
A
Growing problem
Though the majority of emissions problems
in London come from road transport, other
recent reports highlight the fact that wood
burning also contributes a small amount to
pollution within urban areas. With incentives
such as the RHI predicted to increase the
use of biomass heating, there are concerns
that emissions from biomass will become a
growing problem for the future.
During the winter heating
season wood smoke in
London accounted for
around 10 percent of
particulate emissions
A recent study carried out by King’s
College London used a trace element only
found in wood smoke (levoglucosan) as a
marker to identify which particulates come
from wood as opposed to mineral fuel. The
study found that during the winter heating
season wood smoke in London accounted for
around 10 percent of particulate emissions.
It was notable that emissions in newly
developed areas were substantially less,
where houses are better insulated and the
28 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
installation of a wood appliance would
require a new chimney to be fitted. It could
be concluded that in these areas there is
much more likelihood of a clean burn exempt
appliance being fitted in compliance with the
clean air act requirements.
Law breaking
London has a predominance of old building
stock with poor insulation, usually built when
solid fuel was the only heating option. These
houses have a brick chimney in almost every
room that originally had an open coal fire.
Though it is in breach of the clean air act, it
is thought that many of these properties have
brought an old open fire back into use but are
using it illegally for wood burning. With the
easy availability of wood logs from garage
forecourts, DIY stores and supermarkets,
it is very easy for homeowners to open up
existing fireplaces and fall into the trap
of burning logs which might have a high
moisture content.
Burning wood in a smoke control area
is illegal unless it is burnt on a Defra exempt
clean wood burning appliance. With the
King’s College London report highlighting
the fact that the inefficient and illegal wood
burning on open fires may be the main
cause of their findings, this opens up the
opportunity to publicise the benefits of clean
burn exempt wood appliances over burning
the wood illegally on open wood fires.
Fighting back
With pressure on budgets, it is unlikely there
will be any incentives from the government
to replace open fires with efficient and
clean appliances. If nothing is done to
counter the illegal and inefficient burning
of wood on open fires within smoke control
areas, the reputation of the wood burning/
biomass industry may suffer. However there
is hope that industry, through the actions of
manufacturers and retailers, will be able to
incentivise the sale of clean burn appliances
and publicise the pitfalls of burning wood on
open fires.
Installers, maintenance engineers and
chimney sweeps also have a role to play
on the front line, educating and consumers
about burning wood on open fires. Within a
smoke control area it is illegal, inefficient and
very damaging to the environment. It may
be that the customer will replace the open
fire with a Defra exempt appliance which
will be good for both the industry and the
environment.