New Air Quality Consultation: Cleaner Domestic Burning of Solid Fuels and Wood

DEFRA has launched a new consultation on the domestic burning of solid fuels and wood, continuing their focus on reducing particle matter emissions and the Clean Air Strategy.

The consultation considers a range of proposals focused on phasing out the sale of the most polluting products, enabling consumers to switch to less polluting alternatives. This includes:

• Restrictions on the sale of wet wood for domestic burning so that it can only be purchased in volumes over a specified cut-off point
• Applying sulphur standards and smoke emission limits to all solid fuels
• Phasing out the sale of bituminous or traditional house coal

Specifically, in relation to wood, consultation questions 6 to 13 seeks views on:

• Introducing a cut-off point of 2m3 for the sale of wet wood to households. (Please note: the consultation explicitly states that wood pellets are dry enough not to be affected by these proposals and so are not in the scope of the consultation)
• Suppliers selling wet wood in volumes larger then the agreed cut-off point will require clear instruction to consumers on how long the wood should be seasoned before it is burnt
• Anyone wishing to sell wood in volumes under the specified cut-off will need to apply to the industry’s certification agency or equivalent (currently Woodsure), to ensure that the wood is of a moisture content of 20% or less

The full Consultation can be viewed here.

Consultation closes Friday 12th October. The REA and WHA shall be submitting a response and views should be sumbmitted to Mark Sommerfeld (msommerfeld@r-e-a.net)