Local impact assessment of wood fuel heating. Approach by atmospheric dispersion modeling

In France, wood-fuel heating has a true global impact on air quality and fine particulate matters in particular. It mainly comes from old and inefficient domestic appliances. Local impact however, in an area heated by a set of domestic appliances or a district biomass boiler, is more complex to assess due to various local circumstances. The approach of using atmospheric dispersion modeling allows to overcome this apparent difficulty. This approach has been carried out in two recent case studies, representative of actual situation, to estimate the additional contribution of biomass combustion for heat purpose on emissions of PM2.5, PM10, NOx and SO2. The main results are presented in this paper. In addition, these studies simulated scenarios of bio-energy development where old and pollutant domestic appliances could be replaced by modern and efficient ones, and also biomass boilers could be equipped with best available techniques such as fabric filters or electrostatic precipitators. Both studies confirmed the benefits of a joint policy to conciliate biomass energy development and air-quality improvement, which allows very low concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NOx and SO2, well below regulatory levels. (author)