My first instinct is to rush to the attack against any think tank which calls for stuff to be banned. But in the case of a proposal by Bright Blue that wood-burners should come with a health warning, and that their use should be prohibited on certain days when pollution is high, I will make an exception. For far too long, wood-burners have been pushed at us as if they were an environmentally-friendly alternative to burning gas and oil. A whole generation of dinner parties has been thrown by smug hosts showing off their eco-credentials in front of a roaring wood-burner. Yet the sad truth is that they are just about the filthiest way you could choose to heat your home, and the biggest single contribution to foul air in our towns, cities and countryside.
Where is the impetus to cut pollution by the smug, middle-class wood-burning brigade?
Wood-burners in 2019 were responsible for 38 per cent of all the PM2.5
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