Guest essay by Eric Worrall
In a move which will have dire consequences for poor people, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Government has announced a ban in household coal supplies.
House coal and wet wood to be phased out by 2023 to cut pollution
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Plans to phase out the sale of house coal and wet wood have been confirmed as part of efforts to tackle tiny particle pollutants known as PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into lungs and the blood and cause serious health problems.
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Sales of two of the most polluting fuels, wet wood and house coal, will be phased out from 2021 to 2023, to give householders and suppliers time to move to cleaner alternatives such as dry wood and manufactured solid fuels.
These produce less smoke and pollution, and are cheaper and more efficient to burn, officials said.
The environment secretary, George Eustice, said: “Cosy open fires and wood-burning stoves are at the heart of many homes up and down the country, but the use of certain fuels means that they are also the biggest source of the most harmful pollutant that is affecting people in the UK.
“By moving towards the use of cleaner fuels such as dry wood we can all play a part in improving the health of millions of people. This is the latest step in delivering on the challenge we set ourselves in our world-leading clean air strategy.
“We will continue to be ambitious and innovative in tackling air pollution from all sources as we work towards our goal to halve the harm to human health from air pollution by 2030.”
Sales of all bagged traditional house coal will be phased out by February 2021, and the sale of loose coal direct to customers via approved coal merchants will end by February 2023.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/21/house-coal-and-wet-wood-to-be-phased-out-by-2023-to-cut-pollution
PM2.5 might or might not be bad for your health, but hypothermia will kill you faster.
The reason British people burn nasty, smokey green wood and coal is they can’t afford anything else.
This new law is Boris Johnson’s “let them eat cake” moment. I doubt Boris and his elitist friends have ever experienced the stress of struggling to pay for home heating; it doesn’t occur to him that some people might not be able to afford those neat but expensive little plastic packets of processed wood. Or maybe he doesn’t care.
Some people might be able to solve their home heating affordability problem by leaving Britain. But for people who stay in the UK, and the many people already struggling with soaring fuel poverty, I have no doubt that for some of them this insensitive new law will be a death sentence.
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I predict a lively black market in, eh, coal.
Me too, and stockpiling. Protest fires of old tyres anyone?
The ban (at least the coal part) is for what is termed “household coal” often sold in blue bags at service stations. The Multiheat smokeless coal is unaffected. Our local dealer was run off his feet with panicked consumers and wasn’t happy the articles had been so misleading. I was chatting to him at the local pub and he said it has been a windfall for him in terms of sales, but people just seem to read what they want to read.
A bit outside of the small city where we live there’s a big facility. Perfectly good big trees arrive by trucks to be transformed in tiny pellets. Which are then sold at about 500$ per tonne in local big do it yourself supermarkets.
I once stopped by and attempted to learn the amount of energy required (and therefore wasted) to chop enough trees for a tonne of pellets.
Sorry, we can not disclose trade secrets Sir…
Trade secret huh ? Of a business sponsored by our taxes ?
beats me why they even manage to sell it, small bits do burn hotter BUT they also burn fast and are an utter waste of money as well as constant refilling fIrebox. i collect twigs n leaves in summer autumn use the household paper etc waste as starters
and then manage to warm most of the draughty wooden house with about 6 or 7 decent sized chunks of wood 5/6 all night for higher heat and one I keep on slow burn during the cay to keep the firebox warm
white or redgum or stringybark and the logs would be maybe 5kg each?
in 1944 2cwt of coal was used by homes per week for heating = 100kg https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1944-07-13/debates/e689a893-a2c3-4e81-8036-dc707296c327/CoalIndustry(HouseholdSuppliesFife)
UK cost of house coal is currently £44.92/100kg
This could buy approx 44.92/.17 =264kwh of electricity per week
This is 37kwh of electricity per day
This is more than adequate for most uk properties to maintain acceptable air temperatures and hot water.
The cost of alternatives for a poor uk householder who was relying on coal is therefore not an issue
Today Coal and logs are used mainly by the rich for the ambience not the cost!
I dont agree, the wealthy and poor alike burn wood and coal in rural areas, some supplement this with oil and gas heating, at a thousand pounds a load for oil the poor can not afford the oil to heat the house,without coal and wood this would be x2 for a years worth heating /domestic cooking.
Similar result to my calculation.
I just read your post agreed, just after tapping a very long reply to this whole sorry business, that vanished !
Utter nonsense.
When I lived in the UK, most people in my low socio-economic area who were subject to clean air laws defied those laws because they couldn’t afford to heat their homes with electricity. The local authorities turned a blind eye because they didn’t want lots of dead people.
Our heater was a 6Kw unit, running most of the day and night close to peak capacity during the coldest months of winter, so the actual peak energy burn was around 6 x 24 x 7 = 1008 KWh per week for at least 12 weeks. Using your electricity price of .17 / KWh, providing similar heat using electricity would have required £170 / week – around £2000 for a year of electric heat.
Instead of paying around £2000+ for 6KW of continuous heat in winter, we used a wood / coal burner, which required 3 loads of cheap green wood @ur momisugly £80 / load + around 3 refills of the coal bucket for around £130 / fill, total around £630 – less than a third of what the electricity would have cost for the same amount of heat.
Paid troll for number 10 is my guess.
whaaat?
I use 13.7kw power a month in an all electric home running 2 freezers and a large fridgefreezer
and thats the summer bill which is high due toa 3hp borepump for an hr a day
my present powerco tells me I use almost 1/3 less than avg one person home?
my old powerco told me I used more than a 2 person home
go figure that one, I couldnt.
Takes a lot of energy to stay warm in Britain in winter, especially if your house is old.
Can you imagine an old stone castle? With no insulation. That must be quite the heating bill, no matter what they are heating with. But probably nice and cool on a hot summer day.
Your figures for the amount of coal used to heat a house are excessive. 50kg does us fine for a week, even when sub zero. Insulation has improved since then. But you knew that.
“We will continue to be ambitious and innovative in tackling air pollution from all sources as we work towards our goal to halve the harm to human health from air pollution by 2030.”
Hands up all who have felt less healthy in recent years. Why don’t people like the environment secretary realise that as a nation we are healthier today than at any time in the country’s long history. He should tell us how many lives he is going to save as a result of this madness. If he cannot, then he has no right to impose such a dramatic and unnecessary imposition on this country’s traditional way of life. Why is Mr Eustace intent in promoting himself as the great man who is going to save the environment at the cost of millions of people, many old and poor? If Johnson does not turn round this utterly ridiculous directive by his environment secretary, as indeed he did with the recent directive on property tax issued by the Chancellor I shall never vote for him again.
OK greens, let us have a review of our achievements so far.
1. Ban all use of coal fired electricity. tick, the last three plants will be demolished in 2023.
2. Ban all use of oil fired power stations, tick, only sub 10 MW units retained for emergencies.
3. Ban all domestic open fires. tick
4. Ban all domestic closed fires. tick, legislation is underway. No more Aga warmth or log burners.
5. Ban all diesel cars. tick, already banned in some city areas and being extended.
6. Ban all petrol/hybrid cars. tick, 2035 is end day, from 2030 the vehicles will be unmarketable.
7. Ban foraging for fuel. tick, anyone without a licence to carry will be prosecuted if caught.
8. Ban gas connection to new houses. tick, from 2025 all new build will be gas-less.
9. Ban any dissenting voices from commenting on public media. tick, already BBC and Guardian policy.
10 Allow mass XR demonstration without sanction. tick, the Metropolitan police encourage such.
11. Get a sleeper green into the number 10 position. tick, things just Carrie on as planned.
12. Do not talk about The long march through the institutions, tick…..
let me just answer that banging on the door…….
I am beginning to be ashamed to be British …….
Begining? This country has been steadily going to the dogs since Blair opened our borders post 1997. We are set to become an absolute ethnic minority in our homeland by 2066. And not a loved minority, judging by the prevalance of anti-white sentiment in the media these days.
On the coal issue? Real housecoal delivers at least double the calorific value when burnt to the more expensive smokeless coal. This will effectively double fuel prices for those in rural areas who rely on open fires for their winter heating. Shameful policy from an out of touch elitist government, pandering to that autistic child, Thurnberg and her motley crew of eco-fascists.
Artisan firewood can be very expensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBb9O-aW4zI
Brilliant!
Our world has become so crazy that it is almost believable that people would buy something like this.
$1,000 for a bundle of kindling is God’s way of telling you that you earn too much money.
In rural areas where wind disperses the soot, burning coal in an open fires might be ok, but in high density housing it should have been no, no, long time ago, especially in the areas where low particles emission gas supplies are available.
However, of more immediate concern is a news report that “The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about cases where there has been no contact with someone known to be infected nor travel to China” and that incubation period might be as long as four weeks.
There is nothing government won’t control if you let them.
There goes my hickory smoked BBQ in Britain idea.
If they ban coal what will the overreaching ham fists of government pass out as gifts?
Once again WUWT provides insight to things other than just climate. Often folks like me who reside in other parts of the world are not aware of how such government edicts affect others. I sit here this morning at my desk next to the large sliding doors that allows me a view of my backyard. It has been around 80F for the last several days and a cold front came through yesterday. This morning the temp outside is around 48F but the sky is blue with the morning sun light shining through the tropical foliage that abounds all around. Inside I am comfortable at 74F and that is without having to use any heating through the night thanks to thermal windows and attic insulation which are designed to keep the heat out in the summer but work in reverse on the occasional cold nights we get here. This made me think that perhaps the real climate refugees will be those seeking warmth due to the consequences of government rather than climate change itself.
Yep.
Recall all the blogging during climategate heralding the end of the global warming hoax?
This is not winning.
Johnson obviously knows what the result will be. Already poor, elderly people n England are dying from cold because they can’t afford the rising rates; banning house coal & wet wood just speeds up the process of depopulation. The Agenda is carved into 20 ft high granite in eight languages, so it’s hard to miss.
Death Sentence?
wow thats alarmist
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/21/coal-wet-wood-how-uk-restrictions-work
Not really. Fuel poverty in Britain is a serious issue, between 10-20% of households struggle to pay for heating. Lots of people die every year because they can’t afford to stay warm.
Poor people don’t buy wet wood from garden centres, they buy it cheap off the backs of pickup trucks from people whose contact details are passed by word of mouth. If the government assumes people are buying their winter fuel in hardware stores, all their calculations of the impacts of this new law are way off.
Steve, you will have to find another source for your filtered eco news. No sensible person opens up any link to the Guardian. They refuse to allow open debate, so we refuse to look at their propaganda.
The Guardian regularly supplies ‘news’ articles to Yahoo US News that are critical of the Trump administration. They follow that up with articles supporting the claims of Russia meddling in the upcoming US elections. They should know meddling when they see it, because they are very good at it.
If PM2.5 is that big of a problem (???), first give them a viable alternative. Also not a fan of political policy based on claims of “most harmful pollutant” after you’ve already effectively reduced the most harmful pollutants. You’re left with any old excuse to go on.
In the United States, Utah, Sandy, they allow wood/coal burning when the dwelling has no other means of heat. What that has done is the jerk with a $70K 4X4, 30 foot Ski boat, 40 foot RV, $50K UTV’s, dual Jet Skis, pulls his gas furnace out and replaces it with a wood/coal burning monster then burns his garbage on the weekends to cap it off. Older, fixed income, pulling oxygen tanks behind them can not go outdoors during the winter and with inversions even the air indoors isn’t healthy.
So they (politicians) are looking at higher taxes for gas, higher registration fees for gas burning cars, taxing by the mile all to reduce the crap in the air they allowed with the wood/coal burning cutout.
Few things are more dangerous than extraordinary popular delusions.
When I was in England the people looked healthy using coal. Was that a delusion?
Olen
February 22, 2020 at 7:47 am
Few things are more dangerous than extraordinary popular delusions.
When I was in England the people looked healthy using coal. Was that a delusion?
In the 1960s even into the 1970s a lot of old people suffered badly from severe bronchitis caused by atmospheric pollution caused by coal smoke in big cities. I remember in Birmingham not being able to see the side of the pavement (=sidewalk) in the fog.
Exactly what is a lot of people compaired with the general population? Are you suggesting the whole population
Suffered some respiratory illness because of burning solid fuel,are you suggesting cities and their smog is only caused by burning solid fuel, you really need to look at the geographic position of major cities and atmospheric conditions at the time of smog , I think you will find it’s not the case burning solid fuel is the cause of smog.
Eric Worrall February 22, 2020 at 2:34 am
Our heater was a 6Kw unit, running most of the day and night close to peak capacity during the coldest months of winter,
—————–
gh
6kw = 25A will not run on UK 240v ring main (plugs fused at 13A) – I assume you must have had a central boiler for the 25Amp consumption.
—————-
ew
so the actual peak energy burn was around 6 x 24 x 7 = 1008 KWh per week for at least 12 weeks. Using your electricity price of .17 / KWh, providing similar heat using electricity would have required £170 / week – around £2000 for a year of electric heat.
—————–
I find it difficult to believe your hovel was loosing 6kw to atmosphere. In my hovel in the 60s we managed with a 2kw fan heater running only when needed. why would anyone heat their bedrooms to normal daytime temps? surely you must have lowered the sleep temps?
an interesting doc:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/345141/uk_housing_fact_file_2013.pdf
“The demise of solid fuels (for heating) was even more stark: they provided nearly half of the energy used in homes in 1970, but are down to just 2% today. This is because so few homes now use open fires or coal stoves as their main form of heating. (‘Solid fuel’ included wood until 2000 because of the way BREHOMES categorised fuels. It is now classified as ‘Renewables’.) ”
pg 73
1970———2012
19 million —27 million households
£1,050—— £1,250 energy spend per household
You should also understand that over 60s receive a £200 gift from the government every winter = 1000kwH. Plus a cold weather payment
“You’ll get a payment if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below over 7 consecutive days.
You’ll get £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March.”
6Kw wood heater. We didn’t live in London, most of the people in my area used wood heating. And yes my “hovel” did get cold without the wood heater going full blast.
“Wood burning stoves, unlike fireplaces, do not lose more than 90 per cent of their heat up the chimney. Even the simplest Franklin stoves keep 40 to 70 per cent of their heat” No idea what efficiency of stove you had but it certainly was not 100%
so possibly 4kw of heat output???
A 4kw electric heater is 100% efficient
Today you can burn coal equivalent to 36kwh of equally priced electricity per day. I would therefore suggest with modern bed linen (duvets) this would be more than sufficient to keep even the most frail alive – Coal/wood/electric equal priced perday
meant to add that it is not a fight between coal or electricity but a problem with money available that causes problems and deaths.
I gather this ban only affects household sales and doesn’t affect heritage railways, so it would seem the work around for anyone who enjoys a lump or two of coal to enhance their household open fire is to join the nearest preservation society as a member and scavenge any odd lumps laying around that spill out locomotive tenders during a running day.
I only have a wood burner to heat my home, there is no gas supply here, I cut my own wood but usually run out in Jan/Feb then switch to coal. 10 miles to the nearest town. dry wood is the most expensive fuel to buy, buying dry wood would cost me £400 a month just for heating which i need 6 months of the year. one size fits all is BS.
Use electricity it would be cheaper £400 would give you 3kw burning 24/7
There is no scientifically valid evidence that PM2.5 is a health hazard.
Yes mark I agree and it’s important because this is a justification for this clean air act, what is remarkable is I just did this bit of research and came up with this regarding PM 2.5 Start at 12.25 mins
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000fgf7
Here in the UK – I live in a rural part of northwest England – nobody with the slightest bit of sense burns ‘wet wood’, which is to say unseasoned wood. Buy from a reputable source which will guarantee that the wood has been kept at least over the summer to dry out sufficiently; there is a certification scheme. And no need to buy kiln-dried wood either; it’s a complete waste of energy doing this.
Not all wood will dry over a summer. I split and stack my wood under cover but in well ventilated stores. Ash will dry over summer but not oak, that will require 2 or more summers due to its density. Alder and willow ditto but because of the high water content.
A moisture meter is a must… my boiler will work efficiently with 10 to 20% moisture.
But agree, no need for kiln drying.
Here in rural Wales, although I’m in London this week. Supplies of wood for burning came from the boys, tractor trailer 80 notes a load ,its more nowadays , the wood was as green as it comes, every one who bought a load knew it had to be dried ,and left it for a year or so to be seasoned ,and used last years loads this year, this wood came from farms were they worked,and or through the FC via a fire wood licence.
In 2000 Wales became the owner of all national forests in its land, one of the first things they did was withdraw the firewood licence, a ancient right ( By hook or by crook) to gather fallen wood in the kings forests.
They justified this by saying bugs lived in the dead wood, 6 months later the harvesting companies started to sell fire wood to the public who previously had the right to gather themselves, the justification was a lie so large companies could profit from what was a rural way of life.
This latest fuel scam is not about Johnny’s asthma, its subversive control in the name of the environment and climate change .
Never fear,there is always old tyres.
In fact I understand Nelson Mandela’s partner was a world leader in their political use.
While that is very off colour sarcasm,the silver lining of the Brits Elites betraying the citizens so soon after gaining power should not go un-noted.
This Mass Hysteria running rampant throughout the self proclaimed “enlightened ones” will result in their rapid fall from public grace.
Freezing,impoverished people are rather humourless when dealing with dangerous,clueless and useless freeloaders.
The hard times that will be the result of gang Green and those who hope to benefit from their madness holding power,will smarten up at least two generations.
Eventually even the most well “educated” taxpayer comes to realize,we do not need the “help” government brings.
But the “helpers” need to feed on us.
Interesting times.