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Azael said:According to a study done by the swedish environmental protection agency burning wood causes 2.1 deaths by cancer for every TWh heat produced. (primary cause is release of PAH's)
A study done in portugal gives the number 5.5 deaths/TWh heat produced. This because of damage to respiratory organs(I hope this is the correct translation). Not taking into account cancer.
Biofuels emit more cancerogenic substances than coal power plant while coal power emits more NOx.
Info gotten from here
http://www.analys.se/lankar/bkgr/bakgrund96-5.html
It is in swedish but it is a respected organisation in sweden.
Most of the health problems from burning wood are related to particulate matter ie soot and PAH. A modern wood stove fitted with a catalytic cumbustor, which is the equivalent of an automobile catalytic converter, produces no more soot or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons than heating oil.
There are a number of EPA approved stoves on the market. Fireplace inserts that use baffles to direct the smoke through the hottest part of the combustion area are also approved.
The worst thing to burn in a fireplace are those nasty artificial logs.
It is possible to burn coal cleanly if the right technology is used. There is an experimental plant here in Tucson that does it. The coal is pulverized to the consistency of talcum powder and then injected into the combustion area using a CPU with feed back devices much like those on modern autos. The stack emissions are then scrubbed.
It is all about money. The old coal fired plants will keep on polluting as long as they can get away with it. The stupidest thing the government ever did was to allow old dirty plants to buy pollution credits from newer clean plants. They should all be clean.
As far as CO2 goes, clean burn technology doesn't help.
As far as global warming goes, I can't help but believe that the thousands of tons daily of anthropologic generated CO2 can be eliminated from the equation.
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