This guest essay by Rebecca Freedman, an emission specialist with the British Columbia Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, expands on a comment posted at The Woodpile. We hope it prompts a dialogue among those whose work involves communicating with the public about wood heating.

I commented in response to the Wood Smoke Emission Reductions Through Public Education article, in which John wrote:

“The lack of good quality public information is not for lack of intelligence or creativity. I think the biggest reason why emission reduction through public information is in its infancy is because it is a very difficult task and that the agencies with resources, like government and manufacturers, are populated by technologists and marketing specialists, not sociologists and educators.”

The statement piqued my interest because I work for the government of British Columbia and, with both a marketing and education background, I believe in the critical role that public education and behaviour change must play in reducing wood smoke emissions. I run a province-wide woodstove exchange program, giving funding and capacity to local governments to promote exchanges, offer incentives, and deliver education. We currently have 23 programs running and over 3000 exchanges in three years.

Wood is a renewable fuel because young trees grow up to replace those harvested for fuel. That’s a simple enough statement, but there is much more to consider when you look into the details.

The use of wood as a heating fuel does not contribute to global warming and climate change the way fossil fuels do. When oil, gas and coal are burned, the carbon they contain (which was absorbed from the atmosphere by plants millions of years ago) is oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO₂), the main greenhouse gas. In effect, the combustion of fossil fuels releases ancient carbon, thereby increasing the atmospheric concentration CO₂.