<p>Information campaigns aimed at wood fuel users to improve stove operation is one of the measures that could be implemented on a national level. Photo: Flickr.com /Thoth God of Knowledge CC BY</p>

Big emissions from small chimneys

Domestic wood burning is a major source of air pollutant emissions – a new eco-labelled wood stove is allowed to emit 25 times more health-damaging particles than a ten-year old diesel truck.

Wood burning is perceived by many as being natural and therefore environmentally benign, but it is in fact a significant source of several harmful air pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (soot), dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

These emissions contribute significantly to premature mortality and morbidity and the soot particles also contribute to Arctic warming and global climate change. Moreover, the share of emissions from residential wood burning in the EU is expected to increase as other key emission sources gradually become more efficiently regulated and because increasing costs of conventional home heating will continue to stimulate cheap wood burning.

In European emission inventories, small-scale combustion of fuels for domestic heating is reported under a sector called “commercial, institutional and household”. In the EU28, fuel combustion in this sector is the major emission source of primary PM2.5, contributing 56 per cent of total emissions, as well as PM10 (40%), black carbon (46%) and the carcinogenic PAH compound bens(a)pyrene (71%).

Expressed as grams of particles per unit of energy, the emission levels from residential wood burning are so high that they totally overshadow those from other heat sources (see figure). In addition, detailed measurements from chimneys show that emissions of PM2.5 may increase up to 30 times if a stove is not operated properly and up to 250 times if it is misused, which underlines the fact that emission levels can be much higher under real-life conditions.

Detailed measurements in residential areas in Denmark show that wood burning can increase local concentrations of PM2.5 and PAH to levels similar to those found in rush hour traffic in central Copenhagen.

Other measurements have shown that wood stoves can give rise to very high levels of indoor air pollution, a significant problem especially in the winter period, when people spend most time indoors and ventilation is limited.

Biomass fuel is usually regarded as carbon neutral, because trees take up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere as they grow, and burning wood simply releases the same amount of CO2 back into the air. This, however, assumes that the wood fuel comes only from forests that are managed and harvested in a sustainable manner, and it ignores the carbon footprint of transporting and drying the wood.

In addition, wood burning generates soot particles (black carbon) that contribute to global warming, especially in the shorter term. So even if wood burning may be largely carbon neutral, it is definitely not climate neutral.

Key challenges related to residential wood burning are the high pollution levels combined with the  long lifetime of each unit (usually more than 30 years) and the intensive use of wood burning because it is a cheap or sometimes even free method for heating in many parts of Europe.

So how can the emissions from domestic wood burning be reduced?

A first measure is to minimise the heat consumption of houses through better insulation. That way you will effectively reduce the amount of wood burned, independent of whether wood is a supplementary heat source (stove) or the primary heat source (boiler).

Then you look for cleaner alternative – primarily renewable – heating sources, such as solar heat, biogas, and geothermal energy, including heat pumps (driven by green electricity). District heating, especially from combined heat and power plants that are fuelled by renewables and from industrial surplus heat, is another option.

New stoves and boilers, especially those that are eco-labelled, are generally more efficient and cleaner than old ones, even though they will still generate higher emissions than the alternative heating sources. Replacing wood logs with pellets is usually beneficial, as it reduces the influence of bad burning behaviour and inferior fuel quality.

Improving stove operation can significantly reduce emissions – but this is a complex issue, and even well operated wood stoves can still be high emitters.

In 2015, the EU’s Ecodesign directive was extended to include energy efficiency and emission standards that will apply to new solid fuel boilers as from 2020 and to new local space heaters as from 2022. While these new standards will help to keep the worst products from entering the market, they are much less stringent than what can actually be achieved by the best already existing appliances. Consequently there is an urgent need to revise and strengthen these standards.

Because the Ecodesign standards are harmonized at EU level, member states are not allowed to introduce stricter national requirements. But there are a number of other measures that can be taken at national and/or local level, including:

  • Incentivising energy renovation and home insulation, as well as small-scale solar and geothermal energy installations;
  • Banning or restricting the installation and use of domestic solid fuel appliances – especially in highly polluted areas or during pollution episodes;
  • Incentivising quicker replacement or shutdown of old appliances;
  • Introducing emission-related taxes/fees on domestic solid fuel burning;
  • Introducing ambitious eco-labels for stoves and boilers to promote front runners in the market;
  • Information campaigns to make citizens in general, and wood fuel users in particular, more aware and to improve stove operation;

For example, replacing old wood stoves with Swan-labelled stoves and replacing old wood boilers with new boilers could halve the pollution from private wood burning. And if all wood stoves and wood boilers were replaced with wood pellet equivalents, the pollution from residential wood burning could be cut by more than 90 per cent.

Economic incentives, such as emission taxes or charges, combined with strict emission limit values, are efficient instruments for speeding up the replacement (phase-out) of heavily polluting stoves and boilers.

The Danish Ecological Council has designed a tax proposal for stoves and boilers in Denmark, which is based on the type of installation, varies with emission levels and is differentiated for urban and rural areas. The tax would be paid per hour of pollution (i.e. when the stove/boiler is used), and the hours of pollution are measured by a small temperature sensor placed in the chimney that counts the number of hours of use. The Danish Economic Councils, as well as the Danish tax authorities (Ministry of Taxation), have both calculated in 2016 that this is the most cost-efficient way to regulate wood burning. The polluter pays principle is then introduced by making the tax equal the pollution costs depending on the emission (type of device) and the health costs (urban/rural area).

The proposal would result in a fairer taxation of heat sources by increasing the fee on the most polluting types. Leading Danish health experts and economists estimated in 2016 that this tax could save about 350 annual premature death in Denmark and save Danish society health costs worth more than €450 million per year. Furthermore, incentives to insulate houses would be enhanced, as well as the promotion, sales and development of better stoves and cleaner heat sources.

Kåre Press-Kristensen and Christer Ågren

Sources: Information from the EU LIFE project Clean Heat (www.clean-heat.eu), especially the brochure “Residential wood burning – Environmental impact and sustainable solutions” and the booklet “Pollution from residential burning – Danish experience in an international perspective.”

Figure: Emissions of fine particles from different sources, expressed as grams of PM2.5 per gigajoule of energy.

<p>&copy; Lars-Erik H&aring;kansson</p>

Livestock on leftovers

Greenhouse gas and nitrogen emissions from agriculture in the Nordic countries could be reduced by up to 80 per cent with a diet of purely organic produce from an almost self-sufficient food system.

<p>Photo: Flickr.com Eduardo Merille CC-BY-NC</p>

Editorial: Another agricultural system is possible

The current production and consumption of food in the western world is unsustainable. For example, in the EU food consumption is responsible for almost one third of the total environmental impact.

New NEC Directive in force

When fully implemented in 2030, the directive will nearly halve the negative health impacts of air pollution, such as respiratory diseases and premature death.

<p>A new more flexible NEC directive in place. Photo: Flickr.com / David Lowry cc-by</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Information campaigns aimed at wood fuel users to improve stove operation is one of the measures that could be implemented on a national level. Photo: Flickr.com /Thoth God of Knowledge CC BY</p>

Big emissions from small chimneys

Domestic wood burning is a major source of air pollutant emissions – a new eco-labelled wood stove is allowed to emit 25 times more health-damaging particles than a ten-year old diesel truck.

<p>Photo: Flickr.com / Quinn Dumbrowski CC BY-SA</p>

CCS is still a failure

After decades of talking and billions of euros in investments there are no large commercial CO2 storage facilities in Norway, Canada, the US or anywhere else in the world.

Global warming and its implications for coral reefs

At current projected levels of temperature increase it has been suggested that tropical coral reefs could be lost altogether as soon as 2050.

<p>At risk of extinction if water temperatures keep rising. Photo: Flickr.com /Biodiversity Heritage Library CC BY</p>
<p>In the background Boxberg one of more than 300 coal power plants that the EU needs to replace with renewable energy. Photo: Flickr.com /Thomas Liske CC BY</p>

EU needs to shut all coal plants by 2030

The EU will need to phase out CO2 emissions from all of its coal plants in the next 15 years if it is to meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goals, according to a new Climate Analytics report released in Brussels in February 2017.

<p>Peer pressure should not be underestimated. Having vegetarian friends is a way to reduce your own meat consumption. Photo: Flickr.com /Fairphone CC BY-SA</p>

How to get people to eat less meat

Personality, friends, religion and political instruments all have an impact on what we eat. A successful strategy to reduce meat consumption therefore needs to have a mixed approach that targets different factors simultaneously.

Stronger air quality measures needed

Air pollution remains the single largest environmental health hazard in Europe, resulting in a lower quality of life due to illnesses and nearly half a million premature deaths per year.

<p>Elevated concentrations of ground-level ozone are still a hazard for both crops and people. Photo: Flickr.com / Pierre Metivier CC BY-NC</p>
<p>Photo: Flickr.com /joel dinda CC BY NC SA &amp; Igor Botamino CC BY</p>

Cost-effective to cut ship NOx emissions

By supplementing NOx Emission Control Areas with economic instruments, ship NOx emissions can be cut faster and further.

<p>After years of protests the Minister of Economy has declared that the coal power plant Plomin in Istria, Croatia will not be expanded as the electricity company HEP Proizvodnja wanted. Photo: Flickr.com / Carlo Mirante-cc-by</p>

Coal project in Croatia stopped

Croatian electricity company HEP Proizvodnja was proposing that a new 500 MW unit replace the ageing Plomin 1 plant, at the site of the existing Plomin Power Station. As a result, the Plomin Power Station capacity would have increased from 335 MW to 710 MW

<p>Photo: Flickr.com Andrew cc-by</p>

100% renewable energy in Europe could be possible soon

Wind and solar are getting much cheaper. This is official according to five technology platforms for renewable energies from the EU. Economic and political conditions indicate a faster transition to renewables than thought possible 2–3 years ago.

<p>Five member states have received final warnings. Photo: Fotolia.com &copy; Prazis</p>

23 countries are breaching air quality laws

Binding air quality standards are being flouted in more than 130 cities across 23 of the 28 EU member states, according to the European Commission’s Environmental Implementation Review.

<p>Lignite regions need to take the leap to a post-carbon society. Photo: Flickr.com / Rudi41 CC BY-NC</p>

The mining curse that haunts lignite towns

Lignite is no longer the cash cow it used to be. Local communities in Germany are now struggling with fewer jobs, lost tax revenues and environmentally degraded land.

<p>Photo: Fotolia.com &copy; pavkis</p>

Comparing vehicle emission standards

A report named “Comparative study on the differences between the EU and US legislation on emissions in the automotive sector” was published by the European Parliament in November.

<p>Photo: Flickr.com / Christopher Michel CC BY</p>

1 tonne of CO2 melts 3 m2 of Arctic ice

Study argues that Arctic summer sea ice can survive only if global warming is kept below 1.5°C.

<p>Suffering from a broken food and farming system? Do as the informed citizen and use liniment before you answer the CAP consultation. Photo: Flickr.com / Internet Archive Book Images</p>

Consultation on CAP reform

The European Commission has launched a major online Public Consultation on the future of the common agriculural policy (CAP) which runs until 2 May 2017. Speaking at a press conference ..

<p>Photo: Flickr.com / World bank photo Collection CC BY-SA</p>

Climate change, poverty and hunger must be tackled together

The agriculture sectors accounts for at least one-fifth of total emissions of greenhouse gases. A new FAO report discusses the challenge of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time meeting the world’s demand for food.

<p>Greetings from some free-riding means of transport! Photo: Flickr.com /Don...The UpNorth Memories Guy... Harrison cc-by-nc-nd &amp; Flickr.com / Roger W cc-by-sa</p>

Ships and planes keep on increasing GHG emissions

Under measures already in place, land transport in the EU is expected to consume 43 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) less energy per year in 2030 than it did in 2010, according to a study by CE Delft.

<p>We promise you an unforgettable holiday with beautiful horizons and PM levels few have experienced since the Great Smog. Photo: Flickr.com / Carlo Mirante CC BY</p>

High air pollution levels found on cruise ship’s deck

Undercover measurements of harmful ultra-fine particles (PM) on the sun deck of a European cruise ship revealed concentrations up to 200 times higher than natural background levels and 20 times worse than in the busy city centres with heavy traffic ..

In brief

Bulgaria faces court for air quality failure

Bulgaria breached EU limits for particulate matter (PM10) across all its urban areas between at least 2007 and 2013 and its plans to achieve compliance were “flawed”, according to the advocate general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Juliane Kokott.

The plan submitted by Bulgaria to the European Commission to reduce PM10 concentrations had “structural deficiencies” as it lacked a timetable for implementing air quality measures and did not describe the improvements they would bring, Kokott said in her opinion for the ECJ. It remains to be seen whether the court will follow the opinion of the advocate general when it rules on the case, which should take place in the first half of 2017.

Poland also faces a similar lawsuit, which was brought by the Commission in June 2016 for an alleged breach of PM10 limits across 35 ambient air quality zones.

Source: Ends Europe Daily, 16 November 2016.
The opinion of advocate general Kokott: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=185257&pa...

Air pollution linked to fifth of pre-term births

Close to a fifth of premature births worldwide could be associated with mothers’ exposure to outdoor air pollution, according to a study by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). It showed that up to 2.7 million of the 14.9 million births worldwide considered as pre-term, i.e. taking place before 37 weeks of gestation, can be linked to mothers’ exposure to particulate matter PM2.5 levels above 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air (μg/m3).

“Pre-term births associated with this exposure not only contribute to infant mortality, but can have life-long health effects in survivors,” said Chris Malley, the study’s lead researcher.

According to the European Environment Agency, around 85–90 per cent of Europe’s urban population is exposed to PM2.5 levels above the WHO annual average threshold of 10 μg/m3.

Source: Ends Europe Daily, 17 February 2017
The study: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412016305992

 

No improvement in fuel efficiency for years

New cars consume on average 42 per cent more fuel on the road than advertised in sales brochures, according to Transport & Environment’s latest Mind the Gap report. Despite auto industry claims of their vehicles’ ever-improving fuel economy, the gap between real-world fuel consumption and official figures has grown from 28 per cent in 2012 and 14 per cent a decade ago. In practice this means that a typical driver spends around €550 more per year in additional fuel costs compared to what might be expected from the official test figures.

Greg Archer, clean vehicles director of T&E, said: “There has been no improvement in the average efficiency of new cars on the road for four years because carmakers manipulate tests to achieve their CO2 targets instead of designing the car to be efficient on the road. As a result, drivers are being tricked and forced to buy more fuel; governments defrauded of tax revenues; and climate targets undermined.”

Source: T&E News, 9 January 2017. Link: https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/no-improvement-average-efficie...

Four of world’s biggest cities to ban diesel cars

Diesel vehicles will be removed from Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens by 2025, as part of an effort by mayors to improve the quality of air for their citizens. These cities also pledged to incentivise alternative vehicles and promote walking and cycling infrastructure.

“Mayors have already stood up to say that climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face,” said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and new Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. “Today, we also stand up to say we no longer tolerate air pollution and the health problems and deaths it causes – particularly for our most vulnerable citizens. Big problems like air pollution require bold action, and we call on car and bus manufacturers to join us.”

Source: C40 press release, 2 December 2016. Link: http://www.c40.org/press_releases/daring-cities-make-bold-air-quality-co...

Trucks and buses cleaner than diesel cars

The research group International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT), reports that heavy-duty vehicles (mainly buses and trucks) tested in Germany and Finland emitted on average about 200 milligrams of NOx per kilometre driven, less than half of the average 500–600 mg/km pumped out in real-world driving by diesel cars that meet the highest Euro 6 standard.

As the buses and trucks have larger engines and burn roughly five time more diesel per kilometre, this means that heavy duty vehicles are ten times better than light-duty diesel vehicles at reducing NOx emissions.

The ICCT report: http://www.theicct.org/nox-europe-hdv-ldv-comparison-jan2017

China forecasts stable or declining CO2 emissions

China is forecasting a significant drop in CO2 emissions of approximately one per cent, according to Greenpeace East Asia’s analysis of China’s National Energy Administration forecasts for 2017. This would be the fourth year in a row of either zero growth or a decline in CO2 emissions. Statistics released today from the Statistical Communique on Economic and Social Development show that coal consumption in 2016 fell for the third year in a row, by approximately 1.3 per cent. Data released in January shows that China is also smashing records for solar panel installations, installing enough panels to cover three football pitches every single hour of the year.

US greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2015

After two years of increases, greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2015, reducing America’s overall climate pollution to below 1994 levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The decline in 2015 was mainly because that year’s mild winter reduced demand for heat across the country, and electric power companies were using less coal and more natural gas to generate electricity than in previous years, the report says. Emissions fell 2.2 percent overall. The draft report is required to be produced annually under an agreement with the United Nations. It is open for public comment and scheduled to be finalised in April, according to an EPA statement.

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/americas-climate-pollution-falling-ep...

Portugal halts oil exploration

The government has scrapped the Tavira and Aljezur onshore oil exploration and extraction contracts. The concession contracts covering offshore exploration blocks are also to be halted as the government recognises that the Algarve is serious in its opposition to hosting an oil industry. No company will be drilling for oil or gas.

http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/10603-government-halts-oil-explorat...

Global soil carbon losses in response to warming

In a recent study published in Nature, 50 researchers from around the world confirm the concerns that they have had for a long time: soils will release a large amount of carbon in response to the rising air temperature.

The study is a summary of 49 empirical studies that have investigated carbon emissions from the soil in different places around the world. Although the results varied slightly from area to area, the team saw a pattern in which the carbon losses were higher in those regions that have had the largest rise in temperature so far. The largest losses of carbon were seen in the Arctic areas where the soil is warming up rapidly and is quite deep. They also saw high losses along the mid-latitude areas. The study only considered the upper layers of soil, and if the soil turns out to release carbon from the deeper permafrost layer, emissions could be even more devastating.

The researchers believe that if we continue with a “business-as-usual” scenario, the soil will release 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide by the year 2050. Even if the planet’s vegetation can reclaim some of this carbon, it will not compensate for the losses that have occurred.

Source: The Washington post, 30 November, 2016. Scientists have long feared this ‘feedback’ to the climate system. Now they say it’s happening.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/30/the...

 

WHO air quality guidelines – report

A new report “Evolution of WHO air quality guidelines: past, present and future”, was published in February 2017 by WHO Europe. It summarises the development of the WHO air quality guidelines since the 1950s and outlines the evolution of the scientific evidence on the health effects of air pollution and how this was used for setting outdoor and indoor air quality management strategies worldwide. Current WHO activities and their future directions in this field are also presented.

The report: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/331660/Evolution-air...

High emissions from chainsaws and trimmers

Tests organised by the German environmentalist group Deutsche UmweltHilfe (DUH) show that 18 of the 24 tested chainsaws and trimmers significantly exceed the EU standards for emissions total of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (HC+NOx).

In 2016, DUH tested machines from the German, Swedish and French markets. Of a total of 33 devices measured, only seven complied with the current limit values of the EU’s Non-Road Mobile Machinery Directive.

According to the DUH, the current lack of controls and sanctions by the responsible authorities mean that manufacturers and traders can bring products into circulation that do not comply with the legal limit values.

The DUH report: http://www.duh.de/fileadmin/user_upload/download/Projektinformation/Hand...

Chinese ship emission control areas

Last year Chinese authorities introduced three domestic sulphur emission control areas (ECA) – setting a maximum limit on sulphur in fuel of 0.5 per cent – in ports in the coastal regions of the Yangtze River Delta (from 1 April 2016), the Pearl River Delta (from 1 October 2016), and in the Bohai Sea (from 1 January 2017).

From 1 January 2018, ships will have to shift to low-sulphur fuel before berthing at all ports located within the three ECAs, and from 1 January 2019, the 0.5-per-cent fuel sulphur limit will extend to ships operating within the designated ECAs and they will be required to make the fuel changeover prior to entry. The ECA boundaries have been clearly designated, mostly extending 12 nautical miles from shore.

Towards the end of 2019, the Chinese government is scheduled to determine if the fuel sulphur limit in its domestic ECAs should be reduced to 0.1 per cent. This would bring the Chinese ECA requirements into line with regulation MARPOL Annex VI of the International Maritime Organization.

Source: green4sea.com, 19 December 2016.