Cherubini thinks more research is needed in this area. The smoke from wood burning is made up of a complex mixture of gases and fine particles (also called particle pollution, particulate matter, or PM). Worryingly, domestic wood-burning is now the UK’s single largest source of PM2.5 emissions. Environment Canada calls this "Harvested Wood Products" or HWP. Burning wood creates a lot of dust emissions," says Arvesen. With nearly 2.4 billion people relying on firewood and charcoal (woodfuel) for cooking, woodfuel is by far the most commonly used solid fuel. So, no, burning wood is nowhere near letting it biodegrade. They explicitly say that this is the actual amount of CO2 emitted in each year by the burning or decay of all wood harvested in past years. When wood is burned, the combustion reaction produces heat and emissions in the form of water, organic vapors, gases, and particulates. The emissions of most concern are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur oxides (SOx), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). 3 The CO2 emissions from cooking with wood and charcoal are caused by unsustainably harvested woodfuel (harvested at a rate that exceeds regrowth). But while the new versions cut down on emissions by more than two-thirds, ... there’s a net reduction in carbon sinks that sequester carbon dioxide… As far as CO2 emissions from harvested wood, I used the official data published by Canada in its National Inventory Reports. In addition to particle pollution, wood smoke contains several toxic air pollutants including: Burning wood to fuel power stations can create as many harmful carbon emissions as burning coal, according to a government report. Burning wood. Manufacturing wood pellets and shipping them creates carbon pollution; burning them for electricity creates vastly more. He points out that reducing black carbon emissions will also have a … Greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and wastewater treatment plants are estimated using methods Again, this is grossly simplified, but works as a general rule of thumb. Using wood, wood pellets, and charcoal for heating and cooking can replace fossil fuels and may result in lower CO2 emissions overall. Burning = neutral, biodegrade = negative, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. How green are wood-burning stoves? Wood can be harvested from forests, from woodlots that have to be thinned, or from urban trees that fall down or have to be cut down. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from combustion processes, both fossil fuel and biomass, are estimated using fuel-based emission factors and activity data. Nasa (2014) - Tropical forests absorb 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide CO 2 emissions originating from resins contained in wood residual fuels are also provided. An oft overlooked fact is that burning wood emits more CO 2 than fossil fuels per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated or per unit of heat generated. Smoke forms when wood or other organic matter burns. For example, per data from Laganière et al.