Curbs on home wood burners announced to cut air pollution

RULES curbing pollution from household wood burners and fires will be brought in as part of efforts to cut harmful dirty air, the Government has announced.

New legislation will mean that only cleaner fuels and stoves will be sold for domestic heating, curbing polluting smoke and soot, under plans being put out for consultation.

And councils will be given new powers to bring in “clean air zones” to tackle poor air from sources such as wood burners – for example limiting what people can burn or bringing in “no-burn days” – and from diesel-powered machinery.

The clean air strategy is intended to cut the cost of air pollution to society by £1bn a year by 2020 and by £2.5bn a year by 2030.

The aim is to halve, by 2025, the number of people living in areas where tiny particles known as particulate matter or PM2.5 are above safe levels set by the World Health Organisation. These tiny particles can be breathed into the lungs and get into the bloodstream, causing health problems including heart disease, strokes and lung cancer.

Officials say almost two-fifths (38%) of PM2.5 comes from domestic wood burners and open fires, which just 7.5% of homes have.

The strategy also aims to tackle ammonia from farming by requiring farmers to invest in equipment and measures to reduce emissions from things such as slurry spread on fields. Under the plans, farmers will get support to bring in the equipment through the new system of agricultural payments for delivering public benefits, devised to replace EU subsidies after Brexit.

But campaigners say more action is needed on other major sources of air pollution, in particular transport, to curb illegal levels of air pollution.

The Government is being taken to court by the European Commission over its failure to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide, which should have been met by 2010.