Smoke Emissions

When asked to name sources of local air pollution, the first thing that most people think of is industry — the big visible smokestacks of business operations. These are readily identified, specific sources, and are referred to as point sources of pollution. Large point sources may be easy villains to point a finger at, but in many BC communities the lion's share of particulate emissions come from far less obvious sources.

There are other much smaller, but more numerous, scattered sources of emissions that can collectively make up a significant portion of a community's total air contaminant emissions. Known as non-point sources, they include mobile sources such as vehicles for transportation, agriculture, and sources such as residential fuel combustion, residential wood combustion, and prescribed burning (e.g. burning land-clearing debris.)

Individually, these non-point sources (or area sources) may not seem like a reason for concern because they are widespread. However, together their emissions can add up and pose serious problems for your community.

This section will discuss smoke from residential wood-burning appliances (stoves and fireplaces), backyard burning and outdoor wood-burning boilers (or outdoor hydronic heaters), and what local governments can do to reduce emissions from these sources.