An influential parliamentary committee is likely to consider arguments for a ban on domestic wood burning in urban areas this parliament, owing to concerns over its growing impact on air quality.
Philip Dunne, the chair of the environmental audit committee, said: “Air quality is something we are likely to look at before the end of this parliament. It’s a serious issue.”
He declined to say whether the committee would recommend a ban, as some campaigners had urged. “If we’re going to look at air quality, we might look at different sources of air pollution,” Dunne said.
Concern is growing over the impact of domestic wood burning in urban areas, which can lead to the release of large amounts of fine particulate pollution, known as PM2.5, which can pass through the lungs to the bloodstream and penetrate deep into the body.
This form of pollution has been linked to severe harms, including heart and respiratory problems, dementia and reduced intelligence.
The head of the UK’s main biomass trade body, the Renewable Energy Association (REA), also said the government should consider arguments for a ban within about four years.
Nina Skorupska, the chief executive of the REA, which represents many sellers of wood as well as other forms of renewable energy, said the government should first work to bring in better regulations, and enforce them, then consider a ban.
“The choice I’ve made is no unabated log-burning stoves that are not energy-efficient. I think that’s the regulation that has to be brought in,” she said.
If such regulations proved ineffective, then within a cycle of council elections – up to four years – a ban should be considered.
“A ban is almost like the last step,” Skorupska said. “So maybe through, I would argue, a council cycle – so two, three, four years maximum – then if they can’t figure out how to do the enforcement in the regulation, then the ban would happen much sooner.”
Wood burning is one of the two biggest sources of small particle pollution in the UK, having doubled in the past decade. Only 8% of homes have wood burners but they produce more pollution than all the UK’s road traffic. This problem is likely to grow, as more people opt for the stoves as “middle-class status symbols”, and as people turn to burning wood as they cannot afford the soaring price of gas.
The government recently strengthened the regulations on new biomass burners, and promised to clamp down on wood burning that fell foul of the rules. But air quality experts told the Guardian the regulations on new stoves were likely to be ineffective, and local authorities said they were unable to enforce a crackdown.
Gary Fuller, of Imperial College London, said: “I am doubtful of the effectiveness of new stove standards.” He said real-world performance did not match the idealised conditions in which stoves were tested.
Tests also miss some of the stove emissions, he adds, including condensable particles that form in the smoke as it cools, while the chemicals in fire smoke also react while in the air to form new pollution particles, which tests do not capture.
Fuller also pointed out that people kept their stoves for decades so it would take a long time for existing stoves to be upgraded.
James Allan, of Manchester University, added that the growing popularity of wood burners could mean air pollution problems would increase, even with more efficient stoves.
“There is no ‘safe’ level of PM2.5 because it has been shown that even small amounts have a measurable effect on health outcomes. The question instead is what level of PM2.5 is deemed ‘acceptable’,” he said.
“The latest stove designs may emit less pollution, but if every household in the UK were to install one and use them all simultaneously we’d likely be in big trouble.”
The Liberal Democrats and two MPs on the committee, the Green party’s Caroline Lucas and Barry Gardiner of Labour, also said the EAC should examine wood burners.
Tim Farron, environment spokesperson for the Lib Dems, said: “The EAC should look into this. The air in Britain’s cities urgently needs cleaning up, and that includes restrictions on wood burning stoves. A sensible approach would be tighter restrictions in built-up urban areas such as London, whilst also acknowledging a nationwide ban would disproportionately hit rural communities.”
The environmental audit committee recently marked 25 years as a parliamentary watchdog, with successes including holding the government to account over plastic pollution, water, insulation and fracking, and effecting changes to policy or new regulations in many cases. If the committee examines wood burners – and Dunne made clear that would be a decision for the whole committee to take – then any advice it issued would carry strong weight with MPs.
He defended wood burning in rural areas: “I represent a very rural constituency, and a lot of my constituents live in isolated rural properties, off the gas grid, and wood burners are a natural and readily available fuel source.
“They pollute if you are using wet wood, and people who live in rural areas and use wood burners generally know that you don’t do that, you use dry seasoned wood.”
However, research has shown that even using dry wood in burners certified by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs produces large quantities of harmful PM2.5 emissions. A study by the European Environmental Bureau found that a single eco-design wood-burning stove produced the same emissions as 750 HGV lorries.
A government spokesperson said: “Air quality has improved significantly in the UK with emissions of all major air pollutants decreasing since 2010. There is more to do to reduce the health impacts of air pollution and ensure emissions reductions are made where concentrations of air pollution are highest. The recently-published Environmental Improvement Plan sets out our intent to reduce emissions from domestic burning, and through the Environment Act we introduced changes to make it easier for local authorities to enforce smoke control areas. We will continue our efforts to raise awareness of how to reduce emissions.”
