Cosy winter nights spent around a real glowing fire are set to be consigned to the history books with a ban on the sale of wet wood and coal for domestic use to be announced on Friday.
Wet wood – the cheap fuel behind the explosion in the sale of wood burners to the middle classes in recent years – is one of the biggest causes of harmful air pollution.
Coal, which also contributes to harmful air pollution, has warmed hearth and home for centuries.
The sale of coal for domestic use will be banned by 2023 the government will announce, in its bid to combat air pollution.
Ministers will also pledge to phase out the sale of wet (or unseasoned) wood as well as coal from 2021 onwards, in a move they say will help clean up England’s air quality. Both products will be completely banned by February 2023. But responding to the plans, coal merchants insisted that households burning coal could see a 30-50 per cent rise in the annual fuel bill.
Wood burning stoves and coal fires are the single largest source of small particulate matter, which penetrates deep into the lungs and can cause serious respiratory problems. Research suggests air pollution causes 40,000 early deaths a year.
The Government says its plans to ban two of the most polluting fuels for home burning, wet wood and coal, will help tackle the problem.
The bans will end a centuries-long practice of burning coal to keep the hearth glowing. But Environment Secretary George Eustice insisted the change is necessary to reduce air pollution.
In both cases ministers insisted alternative fuels are available. Smokeless fuel’s initial cost is greater than regular house coal, but works out more cost-effective due to its longer burning rates and better heat output.
Coal merchants warned the legislation would hit the poorest hardest.
“The introduction of a ban on the sale of house coal would have an unintended, disproportionate impact on some of the most economically and socially vulnerable people in the UK, with a real likelihood of an increase in the severity of fuel poverty levels,” warned Nigel Yaxley, managing director of the Association of UK Coal Importers and Producers. He also warned the ban on coal could drive people to switch to wet wood, which emits more particulate matter and could therefore push up emissions.
But health campaigners were cheering the Government’s decision. “Today’s announcement on domestic burning is a welcome step forward, and will in time, play a role in reducing the pollution associated with PM2.5,” said Professor Stephen Holgate, special advisor on air quality for the Royal College of Physicians.
Analysis – Time to let coal go for good?
An impending ban on the sale of incandescent light bulbs in 2011 sparked a surge in stockpiling. Households unwilling to let go bulk bought their favourites to keep them in traditional light for as long as possible.
There is nothing to stop households who usually burn coal doing the same ahead of the Government’s ban. Households will have until February 2023 to load up on coal for their fires. But it may not be wise. Health experts agree burning coal indoors can be a serious health hazard.
Britain’s coal industry flickered out long ago. In the past 20 years, coal has gone from providing 40 per cent of our electricity needs to less than 6 per cent.