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There's very little coal in the UK now. There are fewer than 10 coal power stations left, and the nearest is over 100 miles from London. The specific London pr

There's very little coal in the UK now. There are fewer than 10 coal power stations left, and the nearest is over 100 miles from London. The specific London problem is traffic, and maybe added to by the current fashion for log stoves. You get the constant thick taste of the fumes about 10 miles outside the centre, and it's there permanently. Just about everywhere inside the north and south circular, which is more like 4 or 5 miles outside the centre, is badly polluted, but the south circular exceptionally so - it's almost constantly gridlocked and wasn't built for the volume of traffic it has. South Circular makes it sound like a major road or city motorway - it's used as one, and was probably intended to one day be rebuilt as one. Except it's just a regular one lane each way street for most of it, with lights and junctions, and lined with houses and shops. So dirt and grit if you leave windows open, or washing out, black gunk in the nostrils and the constant taste. Locals get used to it to some extent. It strikes us every single time we visit the relatives down there.

village-idiot 8y ago
I find the idea that log stoves are part of the problem interesting. Here in America wood burning stoves have pretty strict emissions requirements, to the point where a portion of wood burning stoves sold today actually have a catalytic converters in them to ensure complete combustion of any particulate! Does the U.K. not have similar rules, or are all of these just grandfathered in?
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  I knew it was a bit of an issue, so I looked it up[1]. Turns out it's far worse than vehicles, and far worse than I thought: "...the burning of solid fuels (such as house coal and wood) in our homes is the largest contributor of harmful particulate-matter (PM) emissions." "This makes up 38% of our national PM emissions while, in comparison, industrial combustion is 16% and road transport 12%." Wood stoves appear to have side-stepped much of our clean air legislation which is woefully out of date anyway. Coal fires have become fairly rare over the same period, so that's mostly down to wood stoves. Haven't heard of any requirements for catalytic converters, which seems a sensible idea. In my lifetime we've gone from almost nowhere selling wood except wood yards, to everywhere does - mainly in the last 10 years - garages, corner shops, supermarkets. In neat little single use plastic bags. This government has lost 3 court cases on air pollution, and their current targets kick out real action well into the long grass: 2030. It's ridiculous. [1] https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/wood-burning-stoves-what-you-need-to-know/stoves-and-pollution https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/...
  - dTal 8y ago
    At least wood fuel is carbon neutral.
  - village-idiot 8y ago
    Can you find any references to the actual particulate emissions that’ll be allowed after 2030? I’m curious if wood burning stoves are inherently problematic, or if the EPA really is that much more strict than the U.K. equivalent.
- frereubu 8y ago
  There are smoke control zones - https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules - first put in place after the Great Smog of 1956 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_1956 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_1956. Generally only in built-up areas, so not sure whether it applies to this particular situation, and certainly no controls in the countryside.

village-idiot 8y ago

I find the idea that log stoves are part of the problem interesting. Here in America wood burning stoves have pretty strict emissions requirements, to the point where a portion of wood burning stoves sold today actually have a catalytic converters in them to ensure complete combustion of any particulate! Does the U.K. not have similar rules, or are all of these just grandfathered in?

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
I knew it was a bit of an issue, so I looked it up[1]. Turns out it's far worse than vehicles, and far worse than I thought: "...the burning of solid fuels (such as house coal and wood) in our homes is the largest contributor of harmful particulate-matter (PM) emissions." "This makes up 38% of our national PM emissions while, in comparison, industrial combustion is 16% and road transport 12%." Wood stoves appear to have side-stepped much of our clean air legislation which is woefully out of date anyway. Coal fires have become fairly rare over the same period, so that's mostly down to wood stoves. Haven't heard of any requirements for catalytic converters, which seems a sensible idea. In my lifetime we've gone from almost nowhere selling wood except wood yards, to everywhere does - mainly in the last 10 years - garages, corner shops, supermarkets. In neat little single use plastic bags. This government has lost 3 court cases on air pollution, and their current targets kick out real action well into the long grass: 2030. It's ridiculous. [1] https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/wood-burning-stoves-what-you-need-to-know/stoves-and-pollution https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/wood-burning-stoves/article/...
- dTal 8y ago
  At least wood fuel is carbon neutral.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  Can you find any references to the actual particulate emissions that’ll be allowed after 2030? I’m curious if wood burning stoves are inherently problematic, or if the EPA really is that much more strict than the U.K. equivalent.
frereubu 8y ago
There are smoke control zones - https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules - first put in place after the Great Smog of 1956 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_1956 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_1956. Generally only in built-up areas, so not sure whether it applies to this particular situation, and certainly no controls in the countryside.