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Residential Wood Combustion Workshop

U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and StandardsLarry Brockman

Brockman.larry@epa.gov

http://www.epa.gov/woodstoves

Significance of Residential Wood Smoke

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Why do we care about wood smoke?

• Benzene• Toluene• Aldehyde gases• Polycyclic aromatic

hydrocarbons• Dioxin• Particle Matter

or fine particles (PM2.5)

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Sources of Residential Wood Smoke:

• Wood Stoves

• Fireplaces

• Outdoor Wood Boilers

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A Large Quantity of Small Sources Distributed Over a Large Geographic Area

• 45 million wood burning appliances in U.S– 35 million fireplaces

– 10 million are wood stoves, either free standing or fireplace inserts• 75% are “conventional” wood stoves built before

EPA’s woodstove regulation in 1990

– 100,000 wood-fired hydronic heaters in use

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Estimated National Emissions

336,000Woodstoves

1,450-37,000NESCAUM: perhaps 250,000

Outdoor Wood-fired Boilers

84,000Fireplaces

TPY of PM 2.5 (direct)

SOURCES

Source: NEI for All Categories Except OWB

690 %<1Natural Gas Furnaces90 %<1Oil-fired Furnaces10 %Fireplaces70-80 %1Pellet Stoves

67 % or higher7.5 Non-Catalytic4.1 Catalytic

New Wood Stoves(after 1990)

54 %15-30 or moreOld Wood Stoves

30-55 %30-390Outdoor Wood-fired Boilers (OWB)

Efficiency:Percent (%)

Emissions:Grams/hour

PM2.5 Emissions: Emissions and Efficiency Comparisons

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Why we care about residential wood smoke

A small community in Washington state That’s not fog, it’s wood smoke

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National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Particle Matter

35 µg/m315 µg/m365 µg/m315 µg/m3PM2.5(Fine Particles)

24-hourAnnual24-hourAnnual

2006 Standards1997 Standards

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Particulate Matter: What is It?A complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets

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• Larger particles (> PM10) deposit in the upper respiratory tract

• Smaller, inhalable particles (≤ PM10) penetrate deep into the lungs

Particulate Matter

Model of interior human lung

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Who’s affected?

• Everyone, especially children and the elderly• People with existing diseases such as:

– Coronary artery disease– Heart failure– Asthma– Chronic bronchitis and

emphysema

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National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Particle Matter• Areas whose air quality does not meet the

health-based particle matter standards are called, “nonattainment” areas

• States with non-attainment areas must submit plans, “State Implementation Plans – SIPs”

• Plans must outline how they will meet the particle matter standard

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Timeline for PM2.5 NAAQS Implementation

39 areas designated for 1997 standardsApril 2005

Attainment date for areas designated in 2005 for 1997 standards

Apr 2010-15

Attainment date for areas designated in 2009-10

April 2014-20PM2.5 State plans due for 2006 standardsApril 2012-13

Final designations for 2006 PM2.5 standards 2008-9PM2.5 State plans due for 1997 standardsApril 2008

States recommend designations for 2006 revised PM2.5 standards

Dec. 2007 2006 revised PM NAAQSDec. 2006

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EPA estimates by meeting both the 1997 fine particle standards and the 2006 revised 24-hour standard, the fine particle standards will prevent at least:

– 17,500 premature deaths in people with heart or lung disease.

– 77,600 cases of chronic bronchitis– 27,300 cases of acute bronchitis– 97,000 cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms– hundreds of thousands of occurrences of aggravated

asthma; – 3,450,000 days when people miss work or school

• Based on recently updated estimates, meeting the annual standard will result in benefits ranging from $20 billion to $160 billion a year in 2015.

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Currently Designated PM2.5 Nonattainment Areas - 1997 StandardsViolated annual and/or 24-hour PM2.5 standards with designated data (2001-2003*)

LegendNonattainment areas violating: Number of Areas

both annual (15 µg/m3) and 24-hour (65 µg/m3) standards 2 ONLY the 24-hour standard (65 µg/m3) 0ONLY the annual standard (15 µg/m3) 37

Total PM2.5 Nonattainment Areas 39

* 2002-2004 data were considered in the designation process but all nonattainment designations were based on 2001-2003 data

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Areas/Sites Violating 24-Hour PM2.5 NAAQS – 2003-2005

Current nonattainment area violates new 24-hr NAAQS [32 areas]Current nonattainment area meets new 24-hr NAAQS [7 areas]

• Sites not in a current nonattainment area violate the new 24-hr NAAQS (59 sites)

• 59 sites are violating the new 24-hr standard and are NOTlocated in an existing nonattainment area. • They are located in 38 different areas (34 in metro areas, 4 not in a metro area).

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The benefits of changing out all old wood stoves in the U.S.

Health EffectAvoided Cases

per yearCost Savings

per yearMortality (adult) 5,000 $27,000,000,000Non-fatal heart attacks 7,800 $670,000,000Chronic Bronchitis 3,300 $1,200,000,000Work Loss Days 650,000 $85,000,000Asthma Exacerbation 91,000 $4,000,000Hospital Admissions, Cardiovascular 2,400 $53,000,000Hospital Admissions, Respiratory 2,400 $35,000,000Total NA $29 billion

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Why else do we care about wood smoke?

• Indoor Air Quality – Old wood stoves are often poorly sealed – Improper installation and ventilation of woodstoves and

fireplaces

• Energy Efficiency/Renewable– Newer stoves are 50% more efficient, use 1/3 less wood,

which is renewable– Potential global warming benefits

• Fire Safety– Creosote build-up in chimney from old stoves is faster

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Residential Wood Smoke: What is EPA doing?

• Great American Wood Stove Changeout – Partnership program to replace inefficient wood stoves with

cleaner burning technologies

• Outdoor Wood-fired Hydronic Heathers– Helped States develop Model Rule– Partnership with industry to bring cleaner units to market

• Fireplaces– Consensus ASTM Test Method complete– Working on consensus emission standard