Wood Burning And The Effects On The Environment

Over the last decade more focus has been made on the effects of climate change and how humans have played a role in increasing the temperature of the planet through our use of fossil fuels. This has therefore led to a growth of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and biomass. Biomass basically means any source of energy that can be grown, so this obviously includes wood. Many people get confused with how burning wood or simply burning anything is not bad for the environment. Well wood is made from carbon from the air, therefore burning the wood returns this same carbon to the air. Therefore there is no net increase in the amount of carbon produced.

Wood Burning And The Effects On The Environment

This carbon balance is regarded as been carbon neutral. However in reality if you have to transport and process the fuel there is always some amount of carbon produced. However if the energy for processing and transportation can also be sourced from green energy then the process really is carbon neutral. However one thing that should be made clear is that any form of wood burning is not acceptable and can damage the environment. If wood or any form of biomass is burnt where smoke is produced this is generating harmful chemicals to the environment and to humans and animals. Many people own log stoves and they burn wet logs that smoke. This is not acceptable and should be reduced. Dry logs burn much cleaner, however this can still be improved.

Burning Wood Logs

Using Logs For Heat

Wood Burning And The Effects On The Environment

One way to improve the burning characteristics of wood is to compress the wood and dry the wood. For example process the material into fuel pellets. These pellets can then be used in automated pellet stoves and boilers as seen on the pellet stove and boiler guide website. Say for example even 'dry' logs still contain around 20% moisture all pellets contain less than 10% moisture and many contain around 6%. This reduction in moisture is why once a pellet fire is established no smoke is visibly produced. Pellets also have a density double that of logs. Again this increased density is why pellets burn so well. Pellets can be made from all forms of wood, however avoid processed woods and painted and varnished woods as this will generate emissions. Some pellet boilers only require maintaince every 6 months to empty the ash draw.

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