Wood burners get the chop

THE most polluting log burners will be banned within three years, while coal could be outlawed under the Government’s new air pollution strategy.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, has announced a crackdown on emissions from the home as part of a wider push to reduce people’s exposure to particulate matter which is considered the most damaging pollutant.

The proposals, outlined in the Government’s clean air strategy, include plans to outlaw the sale of the most polluting fuels and to ensure only the cleanest stoves are sold by 2022.

A recent surge in popularity means domestic stoves and open fires are now the single biggest source of particulate matter emissions.

As a result the Government is planning to restrict the sale of wet wood for domestic burning and apply sulphur and smoke emission limits to all solid fuels to improve air quality. The sale of

bituminous or traditional house coal may also be phased out.

Mr Gove said there was a need to take “strong, urgent action”.

Air pollution is one of the biggest threats to public health in the UK, behind only cancer, obesity and heart disease. The Government believes the measures set out in its new strategy will cut the cost of air pollution to society by almost £2 billion every year by 2020.

Writing in today’s Telegraph, Mr Gove and Mr Hancock said the Government would provide information about the cleanest ways to burn domestic solid fuels. They said: “Our target is to halve the number of people living above World Health Organisation guideline limits for particulate matter pollution by 2025 – that’s more ambitious than the EU requires.”

Dr Penny Woods, of the British Lung Foundation, said the strategy was a “step in the right direction” but expressed disappointment it did not go further.