The report gives results of an estimate of the potential environmental impact of the residential combustion of wood. About 16.6 million metric tons of wood was burned in the residential section in 1976. About 30% of this was burned for primary heating in about 912,000 residential units. Geographic distribution of wood-fired heaters is related to the natural forest regions in the U.S. By 1985, over 10 million homes will be using some wood fuel. Emissions from wood-fired residential heaters include particulates, SOx, NOx, CO, hydrocarbons (HC), and polycyclic organic material (POM). The impact of these emissions has been assessed by source severity, involving estimating maximum ground level concentrations of pollutants and comparing these concentrations to a National Ambient Air Quality Standard for criteria pollutants or to a reduced threshold limit value for non-criteria pollutants. A comparative analysis of source severities for residential wood combustion with other stationary sources indicates that residential wood combustion is a major source of POM. Particulate, HC, and CO emissions from all residential wood-fired sources were estimated to contribute 1.0, 1.5, and 3.8%, respectively, of the total national emission burden for those species in 1976.

"Office of Environmental Engineering and Technology." "Office of Research and Development." "EPA project officer: John O. Milliken." "EPA-600/2-80-042b." "EPA contract no.: 68-02-1874." "PB81-136160." Includes bibliographical references (pages 60-66).