Government inaction on clean air strategy
Where on earth is the National Clean Air Strategy, our Government’s plan for a framework for a programme of plans for improving air quality? Public consultation on the strategy closed in April 2017.
In the meantime air quality has plummeted in our cities and towns, impacting on our health and quality of life. It is a fact that bad air makes people sick. It is a fact that bad air kills people.
Thankfully, current building standards have all but ruled out unhealthy and inefficient open fires in new homes. But what is to be done with open fires in existing homes?
An open fire is about 20% efficient. So for that one bag of coal or logs which heats the room, you have to buy, store, and carry another four bags which do absolutely nothing for you apart from damaging your health gnawing at your wallet.
Large-scale retrofitting of homes to remove open fires, increase insulation standards, and install heat-pumps is not going to happen without huge subsidy (carrot) or huge taxes on fuel (stick).
Something needs to be done to bridge the gap and improve the situation now.
One solution for those who rely on open fires is to replace open fireplaces with well-fitted, high-standard wood-burning stoves.
Modern stoves built to 2022 Ecodesign standards can have efficiencies of 75% and produce only about 10% of the particulate emissions of an open fire when burning good quality fuel.
Yet there is no programme, no grant, no measure, no information campaign to encourage people to retrofit stoves in Ireland or to buy higher standard stoves. I can declare no financial interest in promoting stoves. I’m interested in clean air.
Britain may be burning politically but they are streets ahead of us in regulating their air quality.
They have introduced smoke control areas, are implementing new stove standards, and provide a lot of information online.
Nothing doing here.
We wait with bated breath, indoors mind you.
This reader's opinion was first published in the print edition of on 6 December 2019
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