10. 12. 10. - 16:11

Oil to wood switch 'slashes emissions by 97 per cent'

Oil heating causes 40 times more higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than wood pellets systems, according to a new study.

Pressure group proPellets Austria announced today (Fri) research by Bioenergy 2020+ and ARGE Renewable Energy Vienna / Lower Austria shows families heating their homes with oil could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 97.6 per cent if they switch to wood pellet heating.

Another survey presented earlier this year suggested heating a 20-year-old family house with oil cost an average 1,820 Euros a year, while using chopped wood causes costs of just 810 Euros at the same time.

Sweden is the largest per capita wood pellet producer in the world ahead of Austria, while the United States of America top the overall production rate with 4.2 million tons annually.

Meanwhile, figures presented by the Austrian Energy Agency show that the country’s households had to fork out 7.7 per cent more on average to pay their energy bills in October compared to the same month last year.

The authority stressed the price of heating oil prices jumped by a whopping 22.4 per cent year on year last month, while electricity became just 1.1 per cent more expensive.