The banning of wet wood fuel

Big news!

From 2023, it will be illegal to burn coal or wet wood in your home.

And from February 2021 it will be illegal to sell wood fuel with over 20% moisture content.

These are big changes for the industry, but not for Logwise. And closer regulation of the firewood industry is positive for the customer, environment, and our company. 

Let’s dig a bit deeper into the news to answer these key questions:

• What’s happened?
• Why has it happened?
• And, most importantly, will it affect you?

What happened, and what’s being banned?

The government have recently announced the outcome of a consultation into air quality and fuel for domestic fires. Here are the results that impact the wood fuel industry:

• The moisture content of wood sold in units below 2m3 must be 20% or less.
• The certification currently required in Smoke Control Areas for sulphur and smoke emissions limits will be expanded to national coverage.

If that’s a bit much to take in, read on. The explanation takes the edge off a little bit.

Why has this happened?

From August to October 2018, the government ran a consultation on “proposals to help households change to cleaner fuels for domestic burning of wood and solid fuels.” 

The results of the consultation have just been published, and as a result, from 2023 you will no longer be able to buy or burn wet wood for use in your home.

The government’s original consultation aimed to discover what people thought of movement toward cleaner fuels for use in the home.

According to the consultation, burning wood (and coal) for domestic use is “the single largest source of harmful particulate pollution in the UK.”

The government also noted that “many people do not realise that there are cleaner alternatives,” which we agree with. If this change results in a shift toward cleaner fuels, it will have a positive impact.

Will the changes affect me?

As a customer, nothing changes. You’ll still be able to have a cosy fire indoors, but you may need to buy slightly different fuel to keep it burning.

If you shop from Logwise already, the headline news is that this announcement will not affect the products we sell.

This is because having as low an environmental impact is, and always has been, central to Logwise’s ethos. Timber production can be a sustainable source of wood fuel, and we take steps to ensure this is the case with all of the wood we sell.

Here are the steps we take:

• Securing our timber from well-managed, sustainable woodlands.
• Promoting and maintaining sustainable woodland management. We’ve planted over 500,000 trees so far.
• Producing firewood in our Yorkshire logyard, rather than importing it from abroad.
• Using our wood waste in biomass boilers.
• Generating as much energy as possible from solar.

Regarding these changes, Gareth Taylor, our founder and director says: “Our logs are tip-top. All of our firewood already meets the requested criteria that will be made law.”

“I welcome the closer regulation of the wood fuel industry,” he went on to add, “and it’s a positive thing that is being made law.” He explains that burning cleaner and more responsibly sourced firewood is a great way to reduce the environmental impact of a fire in your home.

So if you buy firewood from Logwise, you’re in safe hands.

And if not, perhaps you should be!