At present there is great political emphasis on the relevance of aerosols originating from biomass combustion devices. There are indications that of the total amount of PM10 emissions in 2000 in Europe (2502 kton), small scale biomass combustion devices contributes some 499 kton. In countries such as Austria and Switzerland, about 50% of the ambient concentration of aerosols is attributed to combustion of biomass. This is largely due to relative inefficient and small scale combustion devices, while more efficient, high quality stoves emit much less aerosols that also have less impact on health due to the absence of carbon.

This workshop summarised recent R&D work done on the formation and health impact of aerosols from different types of biomass combustion devices and biomass fuels, as well as the cost effectiveness of both primary measures and secondary measures for emission reduction, such as electrostatic precipitators (ESP’s).

Individual presentations can be downloaded below.

Programme