As the European Commission undertakes a revision of its Ecodesign rules for solid-fuel heaters, European cities are urging a major step forward in ambition. A new policy statement from Eurocities makes the case for more effective, science-based regulation of wood-burning appliances, which remain a significant but often overlooked source of air pollution in urban areas.
Across Europe, the use of wood for residential heating has grown steadily – rising by over 150% between 2006 and 2020. Yet wood smoke is a major contributor to harmful fine and ultrafine particulate matter in the air, which the European Environment Agency links to over 240,000 premature deaths annually. Cities are on the front lines of this public health crisis, deploying a mix of bans, financial incentives, and public awareness campaigns. But their efforts are too often undermined by outdated EU-level standards that allow polluting appliances to remain on the market.
“Ghent, like many cities, must act fast to cut air pollution and meet the EU’s new air quality standards,” said Filip Watteeuw, Aldermen for Housing, Environment, Climate and Energy in Ghent. “Wood heating is a serious but often ignored source of pollution. Even in cities, it causes major harm to air quality, both indoors and outdoors. The European Commission must hold the line on its goal to halve premature deaths by air pollution by 2030 and set strict eco-design rules for all wood-burning appliances.”
Better policy, better air
The Eurocities policy statement, presented at a European Commission meeting by Tobias Wolf, Chair of the Eurocities Air Quality Working Group and Senior Advisor in the City of Oslo, calls for a set of fundamental changes to the Ecodesign regulation. These include unifying the currently inconsistent measurement methods for particulate emissions, which often fail to reflect real-world appliance use. The statement advocates for a single, comprehensive test cycle that includes start-up, extinguishing, and both low- and high-load usage – conditions under which most emissions occur.
The European Commission must hold the line on its goal to halve premature deaths by air pollution by 2030 and set strict eco-design rules for all wood-burning appliances.
Cities also stress the need to regulate not only the mass of particles emitted, but also their number, particularly when it comes to ultrafine particles, which have been recognised as especially harmful to human health. The statement points to the need for stricter emissions thresholds for new appliances, phasing out the most polluting models and ensuring that only state-of-the-art, low-emission devices can be placed on the market in the future. Automating airflow control is another key recommendation, aimed at reducing emissions caused by user error, which even the cleanest models can produce if operated incorrectly.
Examples from the ground
These recommendations are not abstract. They reflect the lived experience of cities already grappling with the health impacts of wood heating and seeking regulatory solutions. In Warsaw, for example, a combination of strict bans and generous subsidies has led to the replacement of over 6,000 solid-fuel boilers since 2017, contributing to an 80% reduction in such appliances. The city’s anti-smog fund has covered 100% of boiler replacement costs in its early years, while also supporting a shift to cleaner technologies like heat pumps and solar panels.
Oslo has also been proactive, providing financial support to replace old wood ovens and running targeted communication campaigns during the winter to promote cleaner burning techniques. Importantly, Norway applies its own advanced emission testing system, which includes secondary particles and full burn cycles – offering a model for what the revised EU regulation could look like.
Elsewhere, cities like Bristol have used national legislative tools to declare ‘smoke control areas’, where only approved appliances and fuels may be used. Recently, the city gained new enforcement powers, including the ability to issue fines for visible chimney smoke. Utrecht is taking a longer-term approach, planning a general ban on wood burning from 2030, while Milan has already attempted to introduce a ban on biomass boilers, although this is currently held up by legal constraints linked to EU internal market rules.
Citizens in urban areas are especially exposed to air pollution, and cities are leading the way in addressing this key health-issue.
Despite these efforts, cities face limitations. Local bans and incentives cannot compensate for weak or inconsistent EU-wide standards. Moreover, many of the most polluting devices remain legally available for sale, complicating cities’ ability to protect their residents.
Next steps
“Citizens in urban areas are especially exposed to air pollution, and cities are leading the way in addressing this key health-issue,” said Eirik Lae Solberg, Governing Mayor of Oslo. “In Oslo, wood-burning on cold days cause peaks in air pollution, still wood remains an important supplementary heating source for many European citizens. Therefore, we ask for a high ambition level when revising the Ecodesign requirements to ensure that we can continue to use solid fuel heaters as a back-up energy source also in the future, without harming our citizens’ health.”
The Eurocities statement makes clear that this is not about banning wood heating altogether. By setting strict and realistic standards, based on real-world performance and the latest scientific understanding, the EU can enable cities to do their part and deliver on the zero-pollution ambition for 2030 and beyond.
