Firing up for fresher air

Rebecca Harper
It's out with dirty old solid fuel burners, in with clean new pellet or non-solid fuel burners.
In short, firewood and outdoor burning could be things of the past if Hawke's Bay is to meet the National Environmental Standard (NES) for air quality by 2013.
The NES is a Government initiative, and although some regional councillors have expressed their dislike of the scheme, the region has no choice but to conform with it. Napier must reduce the particulate matter clogging up its air (PM10) by 47 per cent, and Hastings a staggering 71 per cent.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) policy manager Liz Lambert said PM10 was very fine particles of soot and smoke, not visible to the human eye. Because it was so fine, people could breathe it in, potentially causing respiratory health problems.
The particles came from coal, wood, oil, petrol, and diesel. In Hawke's Bay, sources of emissions were domestic fires, industry, and motor vehicles.
But by far the biggest source of emissions in both Hastings and Napier was domestic fires burning solid fuel, which accounted for up to 88 per cent of particulates.
In 2006 Napier breached the NES 3 nights of the year, while Hastings breached the standard 18 nights of the year. The breaches only occurred during winter, as temperatures plummeted and people looked for ways to heat their homes.
If the region did not achieve compliance with the standard, HBRC would not be able to grant resource consents for discharges to air, either new or renewals.
These were all discharges for industry, the only air discharges currently regulated by council.
Mrs Lambert said industrial discharges were a very low contributor to particulate emissions (a small four to six per cent) and all from major employers in the region. If discharge consents were not granted, jobs could be at risk. The community would also be exposed to harmful contaminants in the air at certain times of the year.
HBRC's environmental management committee recently considered a report it commissioned from Dr Emily Wilton of Environet Ltd.
The report discussed a range of emission reduction options and methods for achieving compliance.
Dr Wilton stressed the enormity of the problem faced by council. "What has to be done is so severe, especially in Hastings, financial incentives alone will not achieve the standard. Regulation will be necessary to achieve the reductions," she said.
"But you might also want to consider incentives to reduce socio-economic impacts."
Banning outdoor burning was one way of significantly reducing emissions relatively easily. Although, the status quo as well as banning outdoor burning would not achieve the standard, even by 2020.
In the age of rubbish and recycling collection, there was no need for people living in an urban environment to burn rubbish outdoors anyway.
Cr Christine Scott asked whether open outdoor fires for entertaining, like braziers, would be acceptable.
Dr Wilton said barbecues were allowed and in Canterbury, where a ban was already in force, many people avoided the legislation by adding grills to open outdoor fires.
Group manager for environmental management Murray Buchanan suggested setting one emission standard for any device used for burning.
"Therefore it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it meets the standard."
Putting limits on emissions would be difficult to police, so manufacturers would need to make sure their products were compliant with the standard.
Cr Rex McIntyre was concerned that for breaching the NES only "a few nights a year", Bay residents could face large costs and restrictions.
"I'd like to know the negative health effect versus the cost to the people - who can afford it?"
Also concerned about the hefty cost of compliance, Cr Adrienne Williams suggested using wind machines to lift the harmful emissions. "I'm quite distressed about this. Communities being asked to go to this expense seems ludicrous to me, particularly in the case of Napier."
Mr Buchanan said council had no choice but to enforce the standard, but that did not mean it had to fund it. "We regulate and they wear the cost of that regulation," he said.
However, most committee members seemed to be in favour of a combination of regulation and financial incentives to ease the blow.
Cr Eileen von Dadelszen said regulation was essential, but it needed to be remembered Hawke's Bay was not a wealthy region. "As a responsible body we do have to look at incentives. Those people who rent and those who rely on free firewood to heat their homes may struggle to stump up for the cost of a new heating system."
The report said even if 100 per cent of non-compliant fires were replaced with non-solid fuel alternatives, it was still unlikely Hawke's Bay would meet the required standard by 2013.
For Hastings, the report said the standard could be achieved if outdoor burning was banned and all existing solid fuel burners not meeting the NES criteria were removed.
Ninety per cent would need to be replaced with pellet fires or non-solid fuel alternatives, and this would most likely be achieved with regulation.
In Napier, the standard might be met using a combination of regulations and incentives.
Regulations would include a ban on outdoor burning and burners not meeting the NES design criteria for wood burners.
Incentives would be needed to encourage 50 per cent of households to replace dirty heating systems with non-solid fuel options.
HBRC was at the point when it needed to decide whether or not to take a regulatory approach, or one that combined regulation and financial incentives.
At this stage it looked like regulations would take force in 2009.
At the committee meeting last Wednesday, council staff were directed to further research the range of options. Options would be considered in a policy discussion document, to be reported back in September.