The government published on Friday an "
action plan
" aimed at reducing by half in 10 years the emissions of fine particles due to heating with wood by individuals, the main source of these particularly harmful pollutants which kill 40,000 per year.
Read also: An "action plan" to reduce pollution due to wood heating
The main objective is to accelerate the replacement of old heating devices, to reach 600,000 pieces of equipment replaced by 2025 by high-performance stoves (“
green flame
” label
) or by the installation of inserts in open hearths, with in particular a strengthening of financial assistance mechanisms. But in some particularly polluted areas with an atmosphere protection plan (PPA, 35 in mainland France), measures may also be taken from 2023 to regulate or restrict the use of this type of heating.
Provisions similar, for example, to a decree providing for the prohibition of "
any use of open-hearth wood heating, including as a back-up or as a decoration
", in the Arve valley (Haute-Savoie) from 2022. Such measures would only take place after extensive consultation between the prefects and local authorities, underlines the Ministry of Ecological Transition: “
The primary objective is to provide education, not to carry out major control campaigns.
», Possible bans only intervening in«
last resort
».
43% of fine particle emissions
Domestic wood heating, although it does not emit CO2 contributing to climate change, in 2018 represented 43% of emissions of fine particles PM2.5 (less than 2.5 microns) and 55% of very fine particles PM1 ( less than 1 micron, the most invasive), according to plan. Other measures aim to improve the performance of appliances, promote the use of better quality fuel, especially drier wood, while only 20% of this fuel currently comes from the formal market. Or even raise awareness among the general public, for example by providing information on the compulsory annual chimney sweep. Taken together, all these measures should "
make it possible to achieve a 50% reduction
" in particle emissions by 2030, according to the estimates of the action plan.
6.5 million devices
The number of wood-burning appliances is estimated at 6.5 million appliances, of which nearly half (48%) are open hearths or poorly performing equipment.
The number of open fireplaces is estimated at around 500,000, but they are responsible for 21% of total wood heating emissions, and up to 44% in Ile-de-France where they represent only 5% of the park. , according to the plan.
During the winter of 2014-2015, the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region had banned chimney fires, before being judged by the Minister of Ecology at the time, Ségolène Royal.