Environmental impact of woodburning

[richyrich]

Small scale woodburning has existed since man struck a flint and sparked a fire. What hasn't existed for millennia is Drax power station burning pellets from North America produced from clearfelling- subsidised by the government. A BBC documentary showed this. It's a con. However I'm glad to see the back of coal burning. I live a few miles from Drax, and since coal burning stopped locally, we now have many more lichens, etc. growing on trees. It really is a nasty fuel- save it for steam trains.

[Cosmiccrofter]

Geogre Moonbat is a first class pot stirrer who will do/say anything to get readers attention.

 

A lot of middle class socialites have had woodburners fitted in recent years because it salves their conscience about using a natural source of heat, if they actually use the bloody thing!!! I doubt they use it half a dozen times a year, then having it swept, decide it is better/cleaner using it as a room feature.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Cosmiccrofter
Spelling

[Elliott.F]

26 minutes ago, richyrich said:

Small scale woodburning has existed since man struck a flint and sparked a fire. What hasn't existed for millennia is Drax power station burning pellets from North America produced from clearfelling- subsidised by the government. A BBC documentary showed this. It's a con. However I'm glad to see the back of coal burning. I live a few miles from Drax, and since coal burning stopped locally, we now have many more lichens, etc. growing on trees. It really is a nasty fuel- save it for steam trains.

Absolutely not surprised to hear that. 
It’s standard operating practices for government and large industry. 
 

It’s one of the reasons I personally heat with wood, so that I am not dependent on these kinds of global systems. 
 

My firewood comes from woodland I manage.
And like growing your own food, I find producing my own energy deeply rewarding. 

[openspaceman]

13 minutes ago, Cosmiccrofter said:

Geogre Moonbat is a first class pot stirrer who will do/say anything to get readers attention.

Yes that's my view, he is a clever man.

[openspaceman]

46 minutes ago, Elliott.F said:

So a wood stove running at say 50% efficiency because of unseasoned wood, poor airflow, etc is still sustainable?
 

As for particulates, are they not also worse if the stove system is poorly

managed and the wood unseasoned?

Of course it is sustainable as long as the wood you burn is replenished by other trees growing. I burn arb waste that comes from leafy mansion gardens, there is no shortage of trees growing in large gardens.

 

It makes no difference whether the wood is burned well or badly, producing smoke at sooty particles, they all end up being dealt with by the same mechanisms that have absorbed  smoke from wild fires for millennia.

 

Yes a poorly managed fire will produce more particulates than a good one but that has nothing to do with sustainability.

[GarethM]

Of course it's entirely sustainable.

 

The arb industry chops down trees and they expect it not to be burnt ?.

 

So what do you propose to do with the timber, woodchip and green waste then ?.

[GarethM]

Plus isn't it effectively sequestered co2, burning it effectively releases the same as if composted, minus any actual benefit of gaining useful heating for us ?.

Edited August 10, 2023 by GarethM

[Rob_the_Sparky]

It is funny to me.  You do not see articles about how little CO2 woodburning produces long term versus fossil fuels, only articles about how horrendous they are due to the particulates.  They then mix together open fires with high efficiency wood burners so no one really gets a clear picture of the realities.

 

The electricity supply simply can not supply enough power to run heat pumps for everyone even without considering the requirements of electric car charging so what are we supposed to do?  Seems the answer is that some would prefer us to burn fossil fuel gas as that produces fewer particulates.  Personally I'd rather the air quality was not so great now than better now and continue to contribute to global warming by burning gas (although I do use a mixture personally, the wood burning reducing my gas usage).

[Elliott.F]

2 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Of course it is sustainable as long as the wood you burn is replenished by other trees growing. I burn arb waste that comes from leafy mansion gardens, there is no shortage of trees growing in large gardens.

 

It makes no difference whether the wood is burned well or badly, producing smoke at sooty particles, they all end up being dealt with by the same mechanisms that have absorbed  smoke from wild fires for millennia.

 

Yes a poorly managed fire will produce more particulates than a good one but that has nothing to do with sustainability.

I see your point. Yes as long as the trees are being replaced then it’s sustainable. 
Perhaps the word sustainable was a poor choice on my behalf, when really it’s the environmental concerns (pollution or particulates) that I was addressing regarding the efficiency of the stoves, fuel quality etc and that many stove owners don’t understand that. 

[GarethM]

It's the lesser of evils argument, regardless of efficiency or particulates.

 

If I'm cold I'll light a fire or burn natural gas or put on the electric fire.

 

Wood is effectively on my doorstep, gas imported from Qatar or the USA at cryogenic temperatures, shipped to Wales and kept so cold it's a liquid and then heated using seawater before supplying to the gas grid.

 

As has been said, even if it's an open fire with the windows open it's probably better for the environment than Qatar or USA imported gas.

Edited August 10, 2023 by GarethM