[chriscampbell]

Pretty sure the statement about wood stoves, is not actual wood but what is described in many countries as pellets. In many poor countries they tend to use pellets and in many cases have been known to burn garbage as well as a heat source.

Kraków in Poland is ranked as one of the worst cities in Europe in terms of air quality with these pellets as a leading cause.

Source: http://www.krakowpost.com/6285/2015/11/krakows-air-quality-a...

[RowanH]

I visited Uganda once, wood stoves + limited electricity + population growth = pretty severe deforestation. The pollution in Kampala, jeepers...... unbelievably sad given how beautiful the natural environment is.

[jrochkind1]

The pellets are made from wood (rather than eg coal or other fossil fuels), the wood is just concentrated and processed to provide more calories of energy in a smaller more consistent package, to use wood byproducts like sawdust that don't start out easily burnable for fuel without processing, and to provide a perfectly consistent product that will always burn the same way with the same calories per gram.

If so, whatever is true of wood stoves is true of them, as far as carbon neutrality. It's the same resource. I guess burning wood is 'carbon neutral'? I guess, unlike fossil fuels, it is 'sustainable', in the sense that more can be grown?

It can still be awfully polluting. I think most modern pellet burning stoves actually emit less pollution than burning straight wood, because they burn more efficiently. But 'less' does not mean 'not'.

[mschuster91]

The problem is not greenhouse gases, it's the other pollutants that are caused by burning. Inadequate oxygen supply produces soot and carbon monoxide, and "trash wood" like e.g. wood that was used in train tracks or in buildings or in furniture is treated with all kinds of chemicals (flame retardants, oils and other residue from trains, plastics, paint) which turn very nasty when burned.

[surfmike]

I'm not an expert but I have family in the Krakow area and used to live there, and everyone I know burned coal (and trash) for heating. Not so many people used pellets, although I did hear about them too.