What is the enviromental difference between using wood in a wood stove to heat a house and using a gas furnace

Question

Is the wood smoke worse or better for the enviroment than natural gas and whatever resources are used to get it and get it to your house

Answer 1

have you really ever thught about science and the environment?  everything on this earth is already here, when you burn something it does not become something new, nothing new shows up, it is just divided differently.  whatever form it takes it settles, it reforms, becomes part of the earth again and things start over.  i'm not saying we can't have an impact on our environment, but i do think we are vastly overrating our ability to affect things long term.  if a tanker truck crashes and spills its content on the ground it is a tradgety, where does oil come from?  i remember being told that a diaper takes 300+ years to deteriorate, well i live in the country, we had a pit where these things went, my daughter is twelve, and there has been no sign of a diaper for almost a decade.  we need to keep things clean, and do our best, and the world will be fine.

Answer 2

Wood smoke contains more particulates than are produced by natural gas. Beyond that, it is hard to generalize. If firewood is delivered by truck, there is a greater impact than if natural gas is delivered by pipe. In my own case, I have arrangements with two landscapers to drop off suitable wood when they cut trees in my neighborhood. That is a shorter trip for them than to the dumpsite and saves them money in dumping fees as well. I don't have to buy natural gas or firewood nor do I have to drive to the gym to get my exercise. The landfills last a tiny bit longer. The carbon dioxide stored in the wood is released faster than it would if the wood rotted naturally. The wood ash is spread on the lawn, saving me from having to buy lime and from having to drive to get it. If I need charcoal, as for potted plants, I have a ready source. To be honest, I have had to buy some wood, about a cord in every 10 years. I burn about four to five cords a winter and have done so for a couple of decades.

Answer 3

there are 2 answers to this question.

the CO2 from the wood goes back into the air, where it came from within the last hundred years or so.

the CO2 from the natural gas also goes into the air. where it has not been since before the time of the dinosaurs.

wood has other elements in it, that also get put into the air.

some of them are better left in the ground.

soot gets deposited around the neighborhood in greater quantities than is the case when burning natural gas.

there are lots of things in this world where there is not a clear right and wrong answer.

there are also, quite a lot of folks who seem unable to deal with that reality.

Answer 4

Just different pollutants. Wood, however, produces more particulate pollution.