For hundreds of thousands of years, human beings have used fire to heat their homes and to cook, and even worshipped it. But sitting by a fireplace, enjoying a cheerful blaze on a winter night, could be a thing of the past. The ACT Government intends to ban wood heaters by 2045.
Wood heaters will be phased out from ACT suburbs and replaced with electric alternatives, and the installation of new wood heaters will be banned everywhere except rural areas. In two decades’ time, Canberrans will instead rely solely on electricity to heat their homes.
Environment minister Rebecca Vassarotti made the announcement today, in response to the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment’s investigation into wood heater policy in the ACT. She will officially table her response in the Legislative Assembly next week.
“I appreciate many Canberrans grew up with woodfired heaters, and they offer nostalgic charm and comfort,” Ms Vassarotti said. “However, we need to confront the reality that the smoke they emit is a direct source of pollution in our homes, a clear and present danger to the well-being of our community in urban and suburban areas, and a looming threat to our natural environment.”
Wood heaters are “not a safe option for heating”, the Commissioner, Dr Sophie Lewis, said. Her report (published in January) argues that wood smoke is a source of pollution, causes illness, and contributes to climate change.
Although fewer than 5 per cent of Canberra households rely on wood as their primary source of heating, wood heaters account for a large fraction of Canberra’s fine particle air pollution in winter, her report states. In her view, there is no safe level of exposure.
“People have an idea that because wood heaters are quite comfortable to be around, they provide nice ambient heat, that that’s a safe appliance to have in the house,” Dr Lewis said. “And that’s not really the case at all. They cause significant problems, and they have a huge health burden for the Canberra community.”
Banning wood heaters was “a really important step to a safer, healthier, and cleaner environment”, Dr Lewis said.
But the Australian Home Heating Association (AHHA), the peak industry body, believes that the government’s concerns are “definitely exaggerated”, because the report is based on insufficient information. The number of wood heaters in the ACT is unknown; air pollution emissions cannot be precisely assessed; and data comes from only two monitoring stations.
As such, “the plan to phase out all wood heaters … is unjustified,” general manager Tim Cannon said.
Moreover, since modern, clean-burning, emissions-compliant wood heaters create very little wood smoke, the AHHA proposes that only older models should be phased out.
“Phasing out wood heaters completely, while it might improve air quality, is not the only solution to address wood smoke issue in parts of the ACT,” Mr Cannon said. “It will have the opposite effect.
“Industry will no longer be regulated with emissions compliant wood heaters. There will be no advancement in new wood burning technology coming on the market. People will make their own backyard wood heaters to heat their home because they won’t be able to afford electricity to heat their homes.”
Wood heaters are prohibited in new development areas (such as Molonglo Valley, Dunlop, and East O’Malley); the government will extend this to Tuggeranong Valley, and will consider extending the ban further, Ms Vassarotti said.
An ACT Government survey conducted last year found that the community is divided over the issue of phasing out wood heaters. Barely half (52 per cent) of the nearly 2,000 respondents supported the proposal; just over a quarter (27 per cent) opposed the proposal; and 19 per cent were neutral. Three-fifths (59 per cent) of wood heater owners opposed the phase out, while a quarter (25 per cent) of them supported it.
Meanwhile, Mr Cannon noted, neither the USA nor Europe planned to phase out wood heaters. The USA recently extended the Federal Tax rebate on EPA-compliant wood heaters until 2032, while Europe offered incentives for biomass heating appliances.
“Australia appears to be the only country in the world that wants to phase out wood heaters as a form of heating,” Mr Cannon said. “Wood is not a fossil fuel; it is sustainable; and when the power goes off in winter and the only form of heating is electricity – people will die from cold.”
The Canberra Liberals were concerned about the plan to phase out wood heaters, highlighting the lack of data on their prevalence and the ineffective regulation in place. While acknowledging the risks of wood heaters, shadow environment minister Nicole Lawder MLA argued that a ban would not address problems outlined in the Commissioner’s report, including issues with emissions and efficiency standards, regulation enforcement, public education campaigns, replacement programs, and inconsistent restrictions. Ms Lawder instead advocated for a more comprehensive solution and the replacement of wood heaters in social housing with safer alternatives.
Asthma Australia commended the ACT Government’s agreement to prohibit new wood heater installations in all suburbs. CEO Michele Goldman said it would improve air quality and health, particularly for those with asthma and children. The organisation urged that low-income households should be helped to transition quickly to healthier heating options, and critiqued the effectiveness of the “Burn Right Tonight” campaign due to wood heater smoke’s inherent health risks. Asthma Australia’s wood heater policy aligned with Dr Lewis’s recommendations, Ms Goldman said.
What is wood smoke?
Wood smoke, Dr Lewis’s report states, contains a mixture of pollutants including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic gases – “which are detrimental to human health”.
It causes or worsens serious respiratory and cardiovascular illness (asthma, chronic lung disease, heart problems), diabetes, cancer, changes in cognitive abilities (autism, ADD, reduced IQ), pregnancy complications, premature births, and lower birth weight in babies.
Long-term exposure contributes to premature mortality and reduces life expectancy. More than 2,600 avoidable deaths occur each year due to anthropogenic PM2.5 (fine particulate matter).
The elderly, young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic respiratory illnesses or cardiovascular disease are most at risk, the report states.
“Wood heaters are predominantly a lifestyle or aesthetic choice for over half of those who have them,” the report states. “This further underpins the inherent inequity in policy settings that prioritise the right of a small proportion of people to burn wood over the health impacts at both a population scale and on an individual basis for those with respiratory and reduced health conditions.”
Dr Lewis’s report states that wood heaters produce methane and black carbon, which exacerbate climate change. Firewood itself affects forests and woodlands; more than 60 per cent of firewood harvested comes from native woodlands, while the legal removal of dead wood reduces the availability of tree hollows and litter layer for animals.
However, the AHHA says that proper forest management schemes (like those in Victoria and Western Australia) can achieve sustainable wood harvesting.
“These programs can provide the wood needed for heating without adversely affecting our native forests,” Mr Cannon said.
AHHA: Phase out is “unjustified”
However, the ACT’s air quality monitoring network comprises three stations, only two of which comply with the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure. These are in the Tuggeranong Valley (Monash) and Belconnen (Florey). A third, in Civic, is not compliant.
Between 2015 and 2018, Monash station reported that 82 per cent of daily PM2.5 came from wood smoke, while more than half (55 per cent, or 43) the air pollution complaints in 2017–19 were sparked by wood heaters and controlled burns. Last year, though, Canberra’s annual average levels for particulate matter were at the lowest levels of the past 10 years.
“The plan to phase out all wood heaters due to air pollution that is based on data from only two monitoring stations is unjustified,” Tim Cannon said.
The report itself states: “The limited number of AAQ NEPM [National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure] compliant monitoring locations in the ACT means that levels of air pollutants cannot be identified for many areas of the ACT… It is impossible to say whether or not specific locations in the ACT experience levels of air pollution which exceed national standards.”
Moreover, the number of wood heaters in the ACT is unknown, and air pollution emissions from wood heaters in the ACT cannot be precisely assessed due to lack of up-to-date information (“current pollutant source data”), according to the report.
Dr Lewis recommended that the government establish a register to determine the number and age of wood heaters, but the government will not do so, due to the cost and administrative load.
“However,” the report states, “air pollution data shows an increase in PM2.5 levels during Canberra’s colder months, clearly demonstrating the impacts of wood heater use on air quality.”
From wood fires to electricity
Rebecca Vassarotti promises that the ACT Government will help households transition to “cleaner, more efficient fuel sources”, such as electric heat pumps.
Electric heating is the cheapest method for home heating, and wood heaters are more expensive than alternative options, Dr Lewis’s report states. She estimates the economic cost of wood heaters on human health at $3,800 (or perhaps more than $10,000) per wood heater. That health burden is disproportionately placed on lower-income households, she argues.
The ACT Government already offers financial incentives to remove wood heaters. The Wood Heater Replacement Program offers rebates of $250 to remove an inefficient old wood heater, $750 to replace it with an electric reverse cycle system, or $1,250 to install an electric ducted reverse cycle system. Since 2004, more than 1,275 wood heaters have been removed – with a projected health benefit of more than $6 million, Dr Lewis claims.
But compliance enforcement is possible – and, Ms Vassarotti said, “If we are looking at compliance and enforcement, there do need to be penalties.”
The government is trialling the Wood Heater Replacement Program to more effectively support low-income households, such as public housing tenants, Ms Vassarotti said.
Nevertheless, with gas also being phased out by 2045, the AHHA is concerned that replacing all wood heaters with electric forms of heating could inadvertently lead to increased demand on the electricity grid.
“Without adequate infrastructure development and grid management strategies, this shift might pose a risk to the stability of the power supply,” Tim Cannon said.
“In the ACT, where temperatures in winter can get low, residents would feel vulnerable if their sole source of heating was electricity. There would always be that risk and worry that there could be a blackout or power cut and no alternative form of heating in the home.
“Lower-income earning households may be unable to afford to heat their home if the only option is electricity and the prices continue to rise. [Has the government] considered the cost of living? How much have electricity prices increased in the last 10 years? Will they double in the next 10 years?”
In the ACT, the price of electricity increased by 28.1 per cent (compared to 2.3 per cent nationally) over the last five years, according to ABS data.
Ms Vassarotti said that the ACT Government had committed to Canberra being a fully electric city by 2045, so they would need to ensure there was enough capacity in the grid. The whole of Australia would also transition to electricity, and more people would be drawing on electricity as transport became electric.
“Very active conversations [were] happening” with local energy providers, the Australian Energy Regulator, and the National Electricity Market, Ms Vassarotti said.
AHHA: Phase out older models
Because contemporary wood heaters are designed to burn cleanly and produce minimal wood smoke while adhering to emissions standards, the AHHA suggests that the focus of phase-out efforts should be on older models.
Modern wood heaters comply with Australian standards that ensure they are clean burning and environmentally responsible, the AHHA states. “These have some of the strictest emission limits in the world,” Mr Cannon said.
Any wood heaters sold after 2019 must emit no more than 1.5 grams of particulate emissions per kilogram of wood burnt, and have an efficiency of 60 per cent or greater. That was decreased from 4 grams per kilogram in 2015, and the Australian Standards Committee will reduce this limit even further within the next few years.
“The wood heating industry has spent millions of dollars on technology and testing of wood heaters to meet ever tighter emissions standards,” Mr Cannon said. “The industry has done everything that it can to proactively improve air quality.”
The table below (provided by the AHHA) shows how much wood smoke heaters from different periods produce.
Current emissions compliant wood heaters represent only 3.6 of total wood smoke, Mr Cannon noted.
“The older non-compliant models are the most significant contributor. It is easy to see the improvement in air quality that could be made if wood heaters older than 15 years were to be phased out, whether replacing them with a new emissions-compliant model or some other form of heating.
“Newer models are more efficient, and produce less pollution. This would help mitigate the health concerns associated with wood heaters while allowing households to utilise this cost-effective heating method.”
The AHHA has recommended that non-compliant wood heaters older than 15 years should be removed from any residential property being sold in the ACT, and replaced either with a low-emission compliant wood heater or an alternative form of heating.
If the average home ownership is between 7 and 10 years, Mr Cannon said, wood smoke emissions could be reduced by more than 50 per cent within that period.
Industry
The AHHA is concerned that banning the sale of wood heaters will affect all aspects of the industry: manufacturers, retailers, installers, maintenance providers, and firewood suppliers.
“Small retailers selling home heating and cooling solutions would likely go out of business,” Tim Cannon said. “With sales of gas appliances already in significant decline, to take away wood heaters as well, there would be no business for them in the winter months.
“Firewood suppliers where firewood is their primary source of income would have to be shut down.
“Installers and maintenance providers would have to reskill, because their current trade would no longer be required.”
Rebecca Vassarotti said she had met with the peak body and with local businesses, but ruled out financial support for them to transition.
A long phase-in would give businesses time to adjust and work out their business models, she said.
“We are looking at a zero emissions future; this does mean that businesses and industries need to adjust.”
Canberra Liberals
“The Canberra Liberals express concern about the Labor-Greens Government’s announcement today to phase-out wood heaters,” Nicole Lawder MLA, Shadow Minister for the Environment, said.
“As it stands, the ACT Government has no data on the number of wood heaters in the ACT. Suburbs that already have bans in place, such as Dunlop, have no regulation and wood heaters remain present.
“The Canberra Liberals accept the health and environmental risks that wood heaters pose in our community. The Commissioner of Environment and Sustainability’s investigation into the impact of wood heaters in the ACT outlined several key issues with the ACT Government’s current policy approach.
“Inadequate emissions and efficiency standards coupled with poor regulation and enforcement, misleading public education campaigns, ineffective replacement programs, and inconsistent suburb restrictions were all significant issues outlined in the Commissioner’s report.
“The Canberra Liberals do not believe a ban will resolve these existing issues and the ACT Government’s track record on enforcement brings into question the practicality of a ban. The Labor Greens Government should prioritise re-developing their approach to these issues and lead by example, by replacing wood heaters in social housing with safer heater options.”
Asthma Australia
“We applaud the ACT Government for agreeing to this significant recommendation, which is a breakthrough for Australia,” Michele Goldman, CEO of Asthma Australia, said.
“People with asthma and carers of children affected will be very relieved by this news, although it will be some time before it comes into effect.
“If a chilly location like Canberra can achieve change on such a stubborn issue, then we’d be looking to other states to embrace this change.”
Asthma Australia represents 2.7 million people living with asthma, and has consistently called for wood heaters to be phased out due to air quality, health and environmental impacts.
The organisation urged the ACT Government to update its Wood Heater Replacement Program and ensure that low-income households receive the support they need to be able to transition towards healthier ways to heat their homes.
It also called took issue with the ACT Government’s ‘Burn Right Tonight’ education campaign. Because there is no safe level of exposure to wood heater smoke pollution, Ms Goldman said, the messaging is potentially misleading.
“Even low levels of wood heater smoke cause health problems. Continuing to say that you can ‘Burn Right Tonight’ is counterproductive,” Ms Goldman said. “There are more efficient alternatives that cost less to use and don’t cause harm to yourself or your neighbours.”
The peak health body for asthma said Dr Lewis’s recommendations supported its wood heater policy position.
In 2020, Asthma Australia canvassed the views of 25,000 people on their attitudes to wood heaters and found three-quarters of the general population surveyed (77 per cent) agree that wood heaters should not be allowed in urban or built-up areas, and over half agree they should be phased out (55 per cent) or banned completely (54 per cent).
“Public opinion is clear, and along with science and health impacts, it’s incumbent on governments to move quickly to take action, appreciating the complexity of the task,” Ms Goldman added.
