Small wood stoves give high emissions

During the winter 1999/2000 89 per cent of the wood in Norway was burned in closed wood stoves with old technology (conventional stoves). New, cleaner technologies were introduced in the 90's, and since 1998 conventional stoves have not been allowed sold. 7 per cent of the wood was burnt in stoves with new, cleaner technologies, while 4 per cent were burned in open fireplaces.

To reduce air pollution in Oslo, the city some years ago offered 4000 NOK to every owner of a conventional stove if a new stove replaced the old one. Nevertheless, only 4 per cent of the wood burned in Oslo was burned in stoves with new technology during the winter 1999/2000. 55 per cent of the fuel wood was burned in conventional stoves, while 42 per cent was burned in open fireplaces.

Figures from the Survey of living conditions show that people living in rural areas use their wood stoves more than people living in urban areas due to easier access to wood. Nevertheless, because of the high population density in the towns and cities, it is in the urban areas the total emissions of particulates are highest.

Is wood burning good or bad for the environment?

In some areas of Norway the emissions of particulates from wood burning (mostly from conventional stoves and open fireplaces) contribute to air quality problems. Scientific results show that exposure to high levels of particulates may cause health effects.

According to the Kyoto protocol wood burning do not give net CO₂ emissions. If a family reduces its consumption of for instance kerosene by increasing their fuel wood consumption, the total greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

About the calculations

The calculations are based on a survey, which gave data on how (and how much) the Norwegians use their stoves and fireplaces. This information is combined with data from laboratory tests that tell us how much each type of stove/fireplace emit of different components when a certain amount of wood is burned.

There are evidently uncertainties in these figures, both in the survey and the lab tests. There are also further uncertainties because of different assumptions in the calculations done by the Statistics Norway.

New emission calculations based on the new method will be presented in January 2002.

Read the entire report here (in Norwegian only): Utslipp til luft fra vedfyring i Norge.