Environmental impact of woodburning

[daveatdave]

12 hours 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.

did you see where the n grid has applied for planning to put a underwater cable from Drax down the Ouse to the North Sea don't know why it might have some connection to the sola farm that's proposed nearby? 

[richyrich]

9 hours ago, daveatdave said:

did you see where the n grid has applied for planning to put a underwater cable from Drax down the Ouse to the North Sea don't know why it might have some connection to the sola farm that's proposed nearby? 

I just googled it- to bring oversupply of electricity from Scotland!! Better than pylons maybe..

[Stere]

Wood burning might be sustainable  but a chainsaws and machinery to get the firewood aren't?

 

As  relies on on fossil fuels?

 

But im no sure alot of high tech stuff that suppose to replace fossil fuels is that sustainable either....due to the need to extract so many mined resources.

 

I class sustanable a somthing that could go on idefinetly for 1000yrs of yrs without depleting some limited resource that isn't  virtually infinite  like  trees.

 

 

 

Horse logging and hand felling trees with axes maybe are?

 

As for pollution  particle scrubbers?

 

Long term  wood burning  likely isn't the best way to heat  houses as all houses would be eventaully be " passive house" if people are really serious about being suitanable.... so could use other heating sources....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Muddy42]

47 minutes ago, Stere said:

Wood burning might be sustainable  but a chainsaws and machinery to get the firewood aren't?

 

As  relies on on fossil fuels?

 

But im no sure alot of high tech stuff that suppose to replace fossil fuels is that sustainable either....due to the need to extract so many mined resources.

 

I class sustanable a somthing that could go on idefinetly for 1000yrs of yrs without depleting some limited resource that isn't  virtually infinite  like  trees.

 

 

 

Horse logging and hand felling trees with axes maybe are?

 

As for pollution  particle scrubbers?

 

Long term  wood burning  likely isn't the best way to heat  houses as all houses would be eventaully be " passive house" if people are really serious about being suitanable.... so could use other heating sources....

 

 

It gets quite scary if you start thinking that the only sustainable alternative to fossil fuels being reverting to human / animal power. A human can produce 100-320 watts and a horse maybe 700 watts.  By comparison you can draw 3 kw from an electrical plug and small chainsaw and many hundreds of kw from a tractor sized machine or harvester.

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Hmm, if you are talking indefinite then that means no mining as there is no indefinite source of any mined materials.  You are talking then about severe shortages of all metals, not sure it is realistic unless someone finds a way to dramatically reduce the population and achieve 100% metal recycling.

 

We could return to something like a Medieval way of life, that was pretty sustainable but not sure anyone would go for that idea bar some very happy native tribes in a few countries.

 

How about adding particulate scrubbers to the chimney? I know very little about them E.g. something like this 

Schiedel ePURO › Schiedel United Kingdom

WWW.SCHIEDEL.COM

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Schiedel ePURO

TBH even knowing they exist it is not easy to find them with a web search.

[GarethM]

Why can't the eco loon types be happy with some form of balance for a country that produces less than 1.3% of global emissions.

 

There will never be a panacea solution other than a mass deletion that meets your zero damage to the world.

 

I just get to a point where I have to ask, when will eco types be happy and say job done?

Edited August 11, 2023 by GarethM

[openspaceman]

58 minutes ago, Rob_the_Sparky said:

Hmm, if you are talking indefinite then that means no mining as there is no indefinite source of any mined materials.  You are talking then about severe shortages of all metals, not sure it is realistic unless someone finds a way to dramatically reduce the population and achieve 100% metal recycling.

Well given time  I guess most bits of the earth get subducted to the core where metals will get recycled and we already know a few ways to get to mass human extinction even before Gaia takes a hand, mind it does look like she has already started.

58 minutes ago, Rob_the_Sparky said:

 

 

How about adding particulate scrubbers to the chimney? I know very little about them E.g. something like this 

Schiedel ePURO › Schiedel United Kingdom

WWW.SCHIEDEL.COM

---

Schiedel ePURO

I like this one as it seems to simply cause the soot particles to agglomerate and stick to the chimney rather than needing frequent cleaning. It is the same, acceptable wattage as the last one I looked at but that cost £1800 plus fitting. It does still require access to the chimney top which will make annual sweeping a problem.

 

Any idea of the cost? I looked at making one from an old microwave  but it got a bit beyond me.