Home heating in temperate Australia
Article
Article Title | Home heating in temperate Australia |
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ERA Journal ID | 41428 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Parsons, David |
Journal Title | International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment |
Journal Citation | 15 (8), pp. 785-793 |
Number of Pages | 9 |
Year | 2010 |
Place of Publication | Germany |
ISSN | 0948-3349 |
1614-7502 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-010-0184-3 |
Web Address (URL) | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-010-0184-3 |
Abstract | Background, aim, and scope: Home heating is an important component of life in inland temperate Australia, and firewood remains a common and relatively inexpensive fuel. However, supplies of firewood are becoming scarce, and excessive smoke pollution is becoming a problem in some places, partly due to poor management of fires. The alternative energy sources are electricity and gas, and the aim of this study is to compare the relative merits of these three energy sources for their impacts on the physical environment. Discussion: The results suggest that using electricity for heating should be discouraged as should the use of inefficient, older, wood burning appliances. The impact of wood burning depends very much on how fires are managed but is acceptable and could make a major contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions if users can be educated to reduce emissions by managing fires better. Sufficient firewood could be grown on plantations even though the rate of growth is slow but would require a significant area of land. The big advantage of doing this is that wood is a renewable resource. So the two alternative heating sources at the moment are gas and wood burning, and the decision about which to use will depend on the ability to reduce emissions from wood. Recommendations and perspectives: It is recommended that electricity use for heating be discouraged in the future and that gas be considered as an alternative, at least in the short term, while we depend on coal burning to produce electricity. Wood should continue to be used, but more community education about managing fires is needed as is a move towards growing firewood on plantations. |
Keywords | electric heating; eucalypt growth rates; firewood emissions; firewood plantations; gas burning; home heating; sustainability of supply; wood burning |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 410406. Natural resource management |
400803. Electrical energy generation (incl. renewables, excl. photovoltaics) | |
300701. Agroforestry | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q1293/home-heating-in-temperate-australia
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