Wood fires focus of pollution cut

[Guest]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/victoria/wood-fires-focus-of-pollution-cut-20130426-2ik44.html

 

I find these proposals daft. For 6 months of the year the emergency services are dealing with controlled and uncontrolled burns over vast areas. And for the other six months the greenies are pushing to ban wood burning. What am I missing? :wubclub:

[Guest littlesarah]

The problem is people that don't know how to most efficiently use their fireplace. When we bought ours, I took the time to read the instructions provided, to do a bit of reading and find out how to minimise air pollution and maximise efficiency. All the wood we use has been seasoned for at least a year (and in the case of our old hardwood fence palings 30 years+!). Some people are burning any old rubbish in old heaters allow for a burn that is pretty much a smoulder - newer heaters don't have a setting that reduces airflow that much. The downside being that a lot of the newer heaters won't burn overnight (unless you stack the wood in a way that impedes airflow).

 

To be fair, that article doesn't mention banning heaters per se: 'All the policy options include a national education program, but none recommend banning wood heaters'

 

[Guest]

The problem is people that don't know how to most efficiently use their fireplace. When we bought ours, I took the time to read the instructions provided, to do a bit of reading and find out how to minimise air pollution and maximise efficiency. All the wood we use has been seasoned for at least a year (and in the case of our old hardwood fence palings 30 years+!). Some people are burning any old rubbish in old heaters allow for a burn that is pretty much a smoulder - newer heaters don't have a setting that reduces airflow that much. The downside being that a lot of the newer heaters won't burn overnight (unless you stack the wood in a way that impedes airflow).

 

To be fair, that article doesn't mention banning heaters per se: 'All the policy options include a national education program, but none recommend banning wood heaters'

 

 

But when you have thousands of acres of bushland burnt by nature, controlled burns (and idiots) I would of thought the pollutants from woodburning at home by comparison would be quite small?

[Guest littlesarah]

But when you have thousands of acres of bushland burnt by nature, controlled burns (and idiots) I would of thought the pollutants from woodburning at home by comparison would be quite small?

 

One would think so. I wonder what the emissions from burning coal for electricity generation are like?

 

Sounds to me like it's about finding an easy way to placate those concerned about air quality. There've been similar noises in NSW - I'm not sure it's a huge priority though, but we'll see...

[Lambethlad]

Fuel reduction burns are a policy of vandalism and madness. Every year thousands of tons of pollution are deliberately created. The hypocritical government keeps banging on about carbon tax, greenhouse gases etc. Not to mention destruction of wildlife and their habitat and loss of human life and homes when fires get out of control. There no evidence all this destruction has prevented one bushfire but still it goes on. And all the smoke created can hang around for weeks making life miserable for asthmatics.