UK city uses data to raise awareness of wood burner pollution

Southampton City Council is using data from air quality monitors to show the pollution from wood-burning stoves and fires and encourage people to choose more sustainable ways to heat their homes.

Home wood-burning causes 21 percent of PM2.5 emissions in the UK, despite the fact only around eight percent of UK households burn wood at home. PM2.5 has been linked to heart and lung disease and other health conditions.

Sales of wood burners have increased as energy prices have soared.

According to a report last year from the European Public Health Alliance, air pollution from wood-burning in homes is responsible for £0.9 billion (US$1.1 billion) a year in health-related damages in the UK and €9 billion (US$9.7 billion) across the EU.

Southampton is installing 18 Zephyr monitors from EarthSense in residential areas and neighbouring local authority areas, to gather near real-time measurements of PM2.5.

The project has been set up over four focus areas, some of which have smoke control in place, based on previous air quality assessments into where there is a high prevalence of domestic burning.

The data feeds into EarthSense’s MappAir air quality model, which also includes datasets from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Automatic Rural Networks. This provides visualisations of emissions and PM2.5 dispersion via a public-facing website.

A statement from EarthSense said the system will “pinpoint the various sources of particulate pollution through source apportionment of wood-burning, transport and background emissions.”

Enhanced network

The initiative is part of a campaign on wood-burning with local charity the Environment Centre with Southampton, The New Forest, Eastleigh and Winchester and follows an air quality grant that Southampton received from DEFRA.

George O’Ferrall, Air Quality Projects Lead at Southampton City Council, commented: “To date, air quality monitoring broadly focuses on monitoring NO2 at roadside locations. We recognised that the wood-burning engagement project would really benefit from an enhanced network of monitors which captures PM fractions in more residential areas.

“The EarthSense Zephyr monitors have been able to plug this gap in our monitoring and give us the opportunity to use local data when engaging with residents to highlight how wood-burning is affecting their health and the health of their community, encouraging them to take steps to burn less and burn better. The MappAir model has helped take this further with residents being able to get an indication of what air quality is like in any area of the city. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with EarthSense to get the most out of the data in this project and in future schemes.”

Via the website, council staff and residents can download air quality data, set alerts, and view 72-hour air pollution forecasts.

The data will also inform the targeting of the behaviour change campaign and advice about how individuals can manage their exposure to particulates.

Joined-up approach

Tom Hall, CEO at EarthSense said: “The evidence is clear that wood-burning smoke emissions are harming human health. Fine particulate matter from domestic burning is a transboundary issue, meaning once we light a fire to heat our homes it goes further than our own exposure. It affects people living nearby and those living with health challenges, such as asthma and COPD, as it travels through the air and infiltrates their environment too.

“By working with Southampton City Council and The Environment Centre to provide members of the public with air quality data, we can bring a joined-up approach to educate members of the public about why moving away from wood-burning stoves is crucial for cleaner air quality and provide pathways for actions we can take to for healthier living. Giving information about the what and the why will be crucial for driving behavioural change.”

New rules recently implemented by London Mayor Sadiq Khan mean that wood-burners will effectively no longer be allowed in new and refurbished homes in London.