Log Burners: A Few Key Facts

PM2.5 particles are harmful and there is no safe limit BUT humans have survived with these particles since cave man times! They are part of the natural world and cannot be eliminated.

PM2.5 particles in the UK have been falling for decades and have dropped from 550,000 tons in the 1970s to currently less than 100,000 tons.

Almost half of PM2.5 particles come from the natural world, or abroad and are outside of UK control.

Domestic consumption including gas and oil boilers accounts for 27% of PM2.5 particles produced in the UK but log burning stoves only make up part of this.

Alternative forms of heating including electric may also produce PM2.5 and are much more expensive and people also die from the cold!

It is hard not to conclude that the war on wood burning stoves being raged by the likes of Michael Gove and others are mainly about government control of the population and eliminating those that prefer a greater degree of self reliance than can be obtained by relying on national infra structure such as the electricity grid. The timing for these clean air campaigns to coincide with exorbitant energy price rises is blatantly ridiculous.

Guest Post from Martyn Riley