Wood is not an inherently dirty fuel that causes serious air pollution. While it is true that old technology like open fireplaces and simple heaters could not burn the wood completely, the new generation of wood burning appliances produce almost no visible smoke and deliver efficiencies in the range of 70 percent. Developed since 1980, improved technology has cut smoke emissions by about 90 percent compared with conventional equipment. Wood may not be the best fuel choice in densely populated urban areas where automobile exhaust and other pollution already puts excessive strains on the air shed. But in suburban, small town, and rural areas, wood makes good sense.
Wood contains only a negligible amount of sulphur, an element that leads to acid rain.
In this age of environmental awareness, a big advantage of wood over the fossil fuels is that its main environmental impact occurs at the point of use and is visible for all to see. In contrast, the real environmental impacts of oil and gas are hidden from view because they occur during extraction, refining and transportation of the fuels to market. The answer lies in the natural cycle of growth, maturity, decay and re-growth of trees and forests. A healthy forest is not a museum, but a living community of plants and animals. The key to ecologically sound and sustainable wood energy use is to ensure that the forest remains healthy, maintains a stable level of variously aged trees and provides a good habitat for a diversity of other species, both plants and animals.