Biomass Heating in Europe: Addressing the Hidden Environmental and Health Costs
Around 80-90 million EU households rely on solid fuel combustion for their residential heating, yet it is one of the largest sources of air pollution in Europe. There is a potential for member states to be prompted to promote a switch from fossil fuels to biomass as a quick fix to achieve the target in renewable energy in heating and cooling. However burning biomass contributes to climate change, loss of biodiversity, and puts an increased pressure on forest resources. The Collproducts campaign (ECOS, EEB, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Green Global Future) has taken note of the problems in the way the current stoves work and we want the EU to fix them. Here is our response to the European Commission's proposal.
The key concerns revolve around the environmental impact of current biomass stoves. They release significant amounts of fine particles (PM2.5), including black carbon, organic gases (OGC), including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and smaller amounts of methane. All of which contribute to climate warming. The stoves can also cause levels of indoor air pollution that exceed roadside pollution. Another major concern is in regard to the flaws in current testing methods. The standards do not properly match real-life emissions due to the exclusion of ignition phases, using unrealistic fuels, and lack of measurement of ultrafine particles or black carbon. That results in emission levels much higher than certified standards.
The Coolproducts campaign proposed solutions have three overarching solutions:
- Technology requirements
● Mandatory electrostatic precipitators
● Catalytic converters
● Automatic combustion control
● Improved store tightness
● Regular inspection and maintenance requirements
- Stricter emission limits
● PM limits 10–15 mg/Nm³ (depending on fuel)
● OGC: 10–60 mg/Nm³
● CO: 240–500 mg/Nm³
● Particle number limits
● Limits on black carbon and benzo(a)pyrene
● Higher efficiency thresholds: 70% for log wood, 82% for pellets
- Improved testing and measurement
● Test cycle including all phases (ignition phase, 30 min after end of combustion)
● Test at different loads
● Measure particle number and dilution tunnel (not just mass)
● Test stove tightness
We strongly recommend consideration of only the following policies
- PO 20 with extended EN16510 standard, significantly stricter emission requirements, and ACC
- PO 23 with extended EN16510 standard, very significantly stricter emission requirements, and ACC
Alternatively, the following policy options would also be acceptable:
- PO 12 with Norwegian standard, significantly stricter emission requirements, and ACC
- PO 18 with Norwegian standard, very significantly stricter emission requirements, and ACC
By Dalia Madanick (Intern EU-Umweltbüro)