Key policy messages

The European Ecodesign Regulation sets emission standards for new small-scale combustion units in the market and thus reduces emissions over time as the appliances are renewed. The Nordic countries can mitigate air pollution from residential wood combustion beyond this regulation.

Mitigation of air pollution from residential wood combustion offers substantial socio-economic benefits through reduced premature deaths and morbidity in the Nordic countries.

Based on the technology scenario of this study, the potential to further reduce the emissions and mitigate negative health impacts by accelerating the renewal of appliance stock at the national level are relatively limited. However, there are differences between the Nordic countries in the selected realistic policy options to execute the reductions, which reflects the differences in the level of feasibility and ambition in the debate on mitigation measures in the countries.

The zone-based scenario demonstrated that implementing emission mitigation in targeted areas with relatively high population density would bring considerably higher benefits of improved health for the emission reduction, compared to national-level measures.

Photo Annie Spratt / Unsplash.