For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
By chevvron
#1562153
Some time ago, I stated that in my opinion, the extra pollution in the atmosphere causing fogs was at least partly due to the newish 'fad' of wood burning stoves.
I see now (Sky News yesterday) that the mighty Khan has come to the same conclusion in London. :twisted:
History: My theory was that the smogs of the '50s which a few of you may remember were caused by coal fires both domestic and industrial (gas was produced by part burning coal as well as electricity being generated by it) and the development of 'smokeless' fuels in the late '50s'/early'60s almost stopped this. As coal is actually wood, burning wood is taking us back to the 'unrefined' coal burning era.
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By KingJames
#1562154
Tough to believe anything written down these days. I can see wood burning being part of the problem and then in the interest of balance - https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/env ... pollution/

We use some smokeless coal in the fireplace with wood that came from trees we had down years ago. It all burns very well and hot, which I am assuming is a good thing as the output is likely to be a lot closer to the chemistry equation than the plus all this other stuff that we are now told about.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562156
It was SMOG not FOG that was the issue.

As temperatures in town were lower in the 50s because there was less traffic and less central heating keeping things nice and warm, there was more fog. Fog combined with particulates in smoke from domestic and industrial coal fires to create Smog which was pretty nasty stuff to be breathing.

The move to smokeless fuels reduced the output of particulates and so there was less smog and as central heating increased and steam locos disappeared from the railways fog and smog both reduced significantly in towns.

Wood burners fed with proper wood and operated properly are no worse than smokeless coal fires.

Even our fire basket with a few logs roaring away in winter gets hot enough to produce very little smoke.
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By Flyingfemme
#1562157
The government pay many people to operate wood burners as part of their Renewable Heat Incentive.....more joined up thinking :roll:
By romille
#1562167
I thought burning wood for heat was supposed to be carbon neutral, how ever they define that. I know that they have converted some power stations to burn wood pellets, Drax being one.
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By seanxair
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562170
We live on a farm and trees blow over, especially if weak and at end of life. We cut them up and season the logs for two or three years. They then burn in my woodburner producing very little smoke and very little ash. The woodburner heats my house and easily provides enough hot water for a family of four and my oil fired boiler is rarely on in winter when the burner is lit. So apart from chainsaw and tractor I'm pretty happy that I'm doing less damage to the planet with the woodburner than without. Oh and we plant new trees on a regular basis.
Wood burning is hardly a new fad and the world and it's inhabitants seem to have survived the invention of fire.

I then go and spoil my good deeds by flying an aircraft around in the sky.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562171
Carbon neutrality is pretty much snake oil as far as I can see. The idea is that trees absorb CO2 to help create the sugars they need as nutrients, so if you plant n trees (where n is greater than 1) for every tree you burn, then you should end up with CO2 reduction.

We have 10 acres of woodland, two cars, three houses and an aeroplane and we're apparently carbon neutral :roll:
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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562176
seanxair wrote:
I then go and spoil my good deeds by flying an aircraft around in the sky.

no, no .... think of all those grass runways and taxiways ... I'm sure we can declare this a carbon neutral hobby (!)
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By seanxair
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562192
True. I've established a grass strip which is good for the environmant. It has free growing grass margins on each side which are full of voles and therefore food for kestrels and owls. There are also wildflowers which attract insects and other birds
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562218
That would assume the conditions are there to create more oil.

Wood burners have low efficiency until they get up to temperature, and damp wood ( needs seasoned for a few years or dried in so early way) has much lower efficiency. They are only clean burning in the right setup (air set right).
New burners (we have one) get over 80% efficiency. Ones from a few years ago don't get beyond 70%.
But even when ours is fully going, I can still smell the smoke outside the house.
By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1562229
^^^^^^AYE! But can you see a thick grey plume emanating from your chimney? NO! Just view the pictures at any "arson" fire of scrapyards piled high with fridges....old tyres...."stocktaking", removal of listed mills etc. Id warrant all the stoves in England don't send as much into the air.....It's all political bullcrap! like the bloody windmills that have such a high attrition-rate they can't possibly be financially or economically viable. Yes! Iremember the pea-souper, stinking smogs.