NHSaves Button Up Workshop

Learn and Act

Burning Wood vs. Fuel Oil

Which adds more CO2 pollution to the air:

fuel oil or wood?

Using data from #1 to #4 below helps determine how many gallons of fuel oil are needed to produce the heating equivalent of 1 cord of air-dried red oak.

#1: These data from the US Energy Information Administration show that burning a gallon of home heating oil results in the emission of 22.45 pounds of CO2.

#2: Emission from burning wood: burning 1 cord of air-dried red oak results in the emission of about 116 kg (255 pounds) of CO2 per million BTUs produced.

#3. Firewood BTU Ratings: one cord of air-dried red oak yields 24,000,000 BTUs when burned.

#4. Fuel Conversion Calculator: Burning 1 gallon of home heating oil will produce approximately 139,000 BTUs.

Now let's crunch the numbers!

From these data in #1 to #4 above we can calculate (1) the number of gallons of fuel oil one would need to produce the heating equivalent of 1 cord of air-dried red oak, and (2) the amount of CO2 emitted by burning that amount of fuel oil and the amount emitted by burning the cord of air-dried red oak. Here's a bit of math for you:

Calculations

(1) Burning the cord of oak will produce 24,000,000 BTUs while burning the gallon of fuel will produce 139,000 BTUs. Therefore, one would need 24,000,000 BTUs per cord of oak / 139,000 BTUs per gallon of oil, or approximately 173 gallons of fuel oil to produce the same amount of heat as would be produced by burning 1 cord of oak.

(2) Burning the 173 gallons of fuel oil results in the emission of 173 gallons x 22.45 pounds of CO2 per gallon, or about 3,880 pounds of CO2. Burning the cord of air-dried red oak results in the emission of 255 pounds per million BTUs x 24 million BTUs per cord, or 6,120 pounds of CO2.

Conclusions

(1) The energy contents of 1 cord of air-dried red oak and 173 gallons of #2 home heating oil are the same, 24,000,000 BTUs.

(2) Burning red oak produces nearly 60% more CO2 than burning home heating oil.

Firewood is renewable, but it's not clean renewable.

Firewood is renewable, but it's not clean renewable. Burning it produces more CO2 than burning an energy equivalent amount of heating oil. And although the wood one burns can grow back in 50 or 60 years, the CO2 released to the atmosphere occurs in a much shorter timeframe than would otherwise occur as a result of the natural decomposition of that wood.

See the following blog Burning wood is harmful to the Planet, new studies confirm it.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse