The Scottish Government’s “draconian” plan to outlaw wood burning stoves is undermined by a report commissioned by ministers less than two and a half years ago.
It found that CO2 emissions from wood fuels are not only lower than from fossil fuel boilers but also lower than from renewable technology such as ground source heat pumps, solar power and wind turbines.
The figures will raise more questions over the decision to ban all “direct emissions heating systems” in new-build homes and extensions. Construction industry figures had been expecting wood burners to be allowed as a secondary system, especially as many rural areas of Scotland cannot rely on constant electric power.
The Scottish Forestry quango commissioned green consultants re:heat to carry out the ‘Review of the Scottish Wood Fuel Industry’ as part of the SNP Government’s Bioenergy Policy Working Group. It was published in November 2021.
It states: “Whilst wood fuels deliver carbon savings compared to fossil fuels it is equally important to note they deliver higher carbon savings compared to most other forms of renewable energy as well.”
Local logs have the lowest of CO2 emissions of any fuel source, at just four grams per kilowatt hour of energy. For tens of thousands of people across rural Scotland, local logs are likely to be the fuel they use to heat their homes with a wood burning stove.
Local wood pellets are next in the table, followed by imported wood pellets – although all wood fuels emit less CO2 than a ground source heat pump, which is the technology favoured by Scottish Greens minister Patrick Harvie.
The report estimates that around 117,000 Scottish homes use wood fuel, with closed stoves (wood burners) and open fires the most common heating systems. They are burning around 400,000 green tonnes of wood each year, or 3.4 green tonnes per home per year on average. There are also around 3,200 wood fuel boilers in commercial properties, many of them whisky distilleries.
The review argues that wood fuel is a sustainable fuel source, stating: “Cutting down woodlands and transporting the wood to burn it in boilers may appear unsustainable to some. However such perceptions are wide of the mark.The UK is good place to grow trees thanks to mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. Growth rates for trees usually exceed those of mainland Europe.”
CO2 emissions table
Wind – 48g/kWh
Solar PV – 105g/kWh to 190g/kWh
Ground Source Heat Pumps – 123g/kWh
Gas – 211g/kWh
Oil – 304g/kWh
Electricity – 433g/kWh
Coal – 1102g/kWh
* Figures range from air-dried local wood pellets (25g/kWh) to imported automated boiler wood pellets (97g/kWh)
It adds: “Wood fuel-fired installations can achieve significant reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) compared with other fuels. All energy generation emits some CO2. This includes renewable and nonrenewable energy sources.”
Although the report also states that it “does not represent Scottish Government policy”, it did feed into the draft Bioenergy Policy Statement. To add to the confusion, the policy still states: From April 2024, new buildings will not be allowed to use bioenergy systems unless these are part of a heat network or as emergency backup.”
‘Solar-powered chainsaw’
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie (left) with ex-MSP Mr Wightman (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Archive/PA Images)
Writing in Holyrood magazine this week, former Green MSP Andy Wightman described the wood burning ban as a “a blunt and unfair imposition of a new standard that wilfully ignores the distinctive needs of much of rural Scotland”.
He also revealed that he is in the process of building a house in the Highlands with a log-gasification boiler as the main heating system, adding: “The wood will come from thinning from a forest that I manage locally, cut with a solar-powered chainsaw.”
Despite having planning permission and a grant and loan offer from the Scottish Government to pay for the boiler, he has yet to apply for a building warrant which will now have to be refused by law.
Mr Wightman added: “If you live in Edinburgh or Glasgow, however, you can still install a wood-burning stove even where you don’t need one and even when it contributes to significant levels of particulate matter pollution. In rural Scotland, you can live in or near a forest, perhaps off grid, but you are not allowed to use what is still a renewable low-carbon fuel when appropriately sourced and combusted.”
Source: Scottishdailyexpress.co.uk
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