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AIR EMISSIONS FROM RESIDENTIAL HEATING: THE WOOD HEATING OPTION PUT INTO ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE
Citation:
Houck, J., P. Tiegs, R. McCrillis*, C. Keithley, AND J. Crouch. AIR EMISSIONS FROM RESIDENTIAL HEATING: THE WOOD HEATING OPTION PUT INTO ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE. Presented at AWMA/EPA Conf., Emissions Inventory: Living in a Global Environment, New Orleans, LA, 12/8-10/98.
Description:
The paper compares the national scale (rather than local) air quality impacts of the various residential space heating options. Specifically, it compares the relative contribution of the space heating options to fine particulate emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and acid precipitation impacts. Approximately 6 quadrillion Btu (6.5 x 10 to the 18th power joules) of energy was consumed for space heating in 1997 in the U.S., representing about $45 billion in expenditures. There were an estimated 99 million households in the U.S.in 1997, most of which required some form of space heating. The major space heating energy options are natural gas, fuel oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity, coal, and wood. Each of these residential space heating options has air quality issues associated with it. To accurately compare national or global scale air quality impacts among energy options, emissions from off-site production, processing, and transportation of the energy need to be taken into consideration, along with the pollutants emitted locally from individual residences. Residential wood combustion (RWC) meets 9% of the Nation's space heating energy needs and utilizes a renewable resource. Wood is burned regularly in about 30 million homes. Residential wood combustion is often perceived as environmentally dirty due to emissions from older wood burners.