Crackdown on wood burning stoves as London Mayor Sadiq Khan says they should be restricted on foggy days to reduce air pollution in urban areas
- Wood burning stoves have become popular in middle-class homes and hotels
- The London mayor has insisted he does not want to ban the appliances outright
- Sadiq Khan says there needs to be advice on days you shouldn't be burning fuel
- He also highlighted that maintenance issues and wet wood exacerbate the issue
The Mayor of London has renewed calls for curbs on the use of wood burning stoves in the capital, saying pollution warnings should be issued relating to their use.
It comes as he today introduced a charge on the oldest and most polluting vehicles, to try to improve air quality in the British capital.
Sadiq Khan insisted he did not want to ban the appliances outright but hinted that he would like to restrict their use.
The pollution warnings might be issued on days when pollution is at its worst – either due to man-made conditions or because of the weather such as bad fog.
The Mayor of London has renewed calls for curbs on the use of wood burning stoves in the capital. It comes as he today introduced a charge on the oldest and most polluting vehicles to try to improve air quality in the British capital.
Mr Khan suggested that his efforts to curb vehicle pollution in the capital needed to be matched by extra powers to tackle other sources of emissions including wood-burning stoves.
The problem was 'not wood-burning stoves per se, it's the material that's burnt', which is often wet wood, and that there were issues with a lack of maintenance that can exacerbate the problem, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'There needs to be advice in relation to which days you shouldn't be burning on, like we have with hosepipes when it comes to water being short,' he said.
'We think half the pollution comes from vehicles, I'm taking steps to address that.
'But the government needs a new clean air act for the 21st century to deal with the other half.'
Measures that could be contained in the proposed legislation would include rules on wood burning stoves, construction and river traffic and a diesel scrappage scheme, plus extra powers for cities such as London, he suggested.
The stoves have become popular in middle-class homes and hotels, with 1.5 million across Britain and 200,000 sold annually.
Wood burning is most popular in the southeast, where 16 per cent of households use the stoves compared with less than five per cent in northern England and Scotland.
But recent research suggested that that the fumes emitted are highly toxic.
In January, King's College London found that during a period of very high air pollution, domestic wood burning contributed half the toxic emissions in some areas of the city.
These zones could be created in 187 areas across London where pollution exceeds European limits.
Sadiq Khan insisted he did not want to ban the appliances outright but hinted that he would like to restrict their use
In recent years many people have switched to wood burning because they believe it is greener than using gas boilers – but a wood stove can emit billions of tiny toxic particles that pollute the surrounding area.
Earlier this year it was revealed that the smoke from wood burning stoves contains the toxic pollutant formaldehyde, which has been linked to cancer.
Today, the Mayor also introduced the T-Charge, a £10 ($13) daily tax which applies to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 that do not meet the so-called 'Euro 4' 2005 European directive to regulate vehicle emissions.
The new charge will be applied during the same 07:00 to 18:00 weekday hours as the existing £11.50 ($15) congestion tax.
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