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UPDATE
It should be noted that many people in recent years have installed wood-burning stoves because they don’t want to add to climate change, but now, after a government consultation, the sale of wet wood fuel, such as the bags of logs sold in DIY stores, garden centres and petrol stations, is being banned because wet wood (ie wood that still has moisture in its cell walls) produces twice as much pollution and smoke as dry wood. The government said wood burning stoves and coal fires are the largest source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), small particles of air pollution which find their way into the body’s lungs and blood. But they are not banning wood-burning stoves, they just want to make sure people only burn thoroughly seasoned dry wood which is much less polluting.
What action has already been taken?
As a first step we [the government] have been raising consumer awareness of the issue and developing quality standards for fuel; we are working with industry to launch a new industry-led Ready to Burn standard for dry wood because wet wood can have over twice the emissions of dry seasoned wood.We have also developed guidance to help inform consumers of what they can do to reduce their impact when burning solid fuels at home such as burning less often, switching to cleaner fuels or moving to a cleaner burning/more efficient appliance. We are working with Local Authorities to ensure this message is available for householders at a local level.
We have worked with chimney sweep organisations to provide advice to consumers in their own homes. They have developed an informative guide which provides clear advice on the procedures to follow when lighting a stove to minimise smoke emissions.
We welcome proactive initiatives already taken by industry such as the Ecodesign-ready brand launched earlier this year which enables consumers to identify which stoves are tested to the emissions standards of the Ecodesign Directive due to be introduced in 2022. There are now over 300 Ecodesign ready stoves available and retailers are working hard to promote awareness of the benefits.
However more needs to be done if emissions from domestic burning are to be reduced.
And of course another brilliant way to reduce pollution is – warm the body, not the space: put another jumper on! Hats are good too! You’ll be amazed how warm you can get before turning the heating on 😀
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Return to the Venus Aqueous page for more episodes 🙂
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This story is available in paperback from our little shop:
Venus Aqueous: Beginnings – the first four episodes
Sources:
http://www.umces.edu/cbl/release/2014/oct/13/assess-impacts-offshore-wind-farms-marine-specie
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/289
https://dosits.org/animals/importance-of-sound/why-is-sound-important/
https://dosits.org/animals/animals-and-sound-summary/
http://savetheeaglesinternational.org/
A Refreshing Alternative: http://gdonna.com/living-like-the-past/before-electricity/
And if there must be electricity, maybe the following windy ideas might be more animal friendly? (let’s hope this time they’ll make sure before installing them)
https://endalldisease.com/bladeless-wind-turbines-tesla-technology-energy/
NYT. Turbine-Free Wind Power from Vibro-Wind Piezoelectric Pads. from YKER MORENO on Vimeo.https://inhabitat.com/vibro-wind-piezoelectric-pads-harness-wind-energy-without-turbines/
http://www.ecochunk.com/3063/2012/10/13/windstrument-scalable-wind-turbine-is-safe-for-birds-too/
http://inhabitat.com/vibro-wind-piezoelectric-pads-harness-wind-energy-without-turbines/
(Thanks to Lloyds of Rochester for that info 🙂 )
How about some cleaner, greener, cheaper solar panels? Try these:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27987827
But surely better than all those options, instead of those options, our best chance to save the planet, the animals and ourselves, is to plant more, many many many more, trees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing
https://www.thewillowbank.com/firewood-info-page/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_gardening
http://sustainableforestgardenfarmproject.weebly.com/
http://www.aidforafrica.org/blog/african-farmers-creating-forest-gardens-planting-forward/
http://www.treesforthefuture.org/
Water and Forests: The role trees play in water quality
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vegan, vegan comics, vegan comics for children, vegan children’s story, veggie kids, vegan children, vegan children’s books
Violet's Vegan Comics 
That’s an amazing story 😀 I really found it interesting and exciting 😀 Venus is so naughty 😀 There is so much more to these environmental issues than I ever realised, I think I have learned a lot from reading this, so thank you very much. I really enjoy your comic books, they have a classic style and interesting stories which are rare to come by in this day and age. I like Venus’s new friends 🙂 They are really nice, and she deserved some nice friends.
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Thank you so much – this is another one from which I learned a lot in the research. I wish I’d been aware how birds and bats are killed by wind turbines years ago, it really is horrifying. And once you know, you look at them differently. They’ve recently put up some new ones not far from us and the blades are so long that the tips are spinning far away from the central structure so it’s no wonder birds are getting hit – they’re flying through what looks like clear sky then, whoosh, a blade comes out of nowhere. They don’t stand a chance. Designers have since made prototypes that generate electricity from wind without posing any risk to wildlife. But tragically there are already so many of the turbines already in use. If only manufacturers had made stipulations in the beginning, that their “green energy” devices MUST generate renewable energy WITHOUT causing any other harm, then these safe prototypes would have been developed much sooner. It’s up to us to keep telling people how wind turbines do not = good energy for birds and bats. The RSPB support wind turbines, and use them to power their offices. Even the Vegan Society has made a deal with Ecotricity which uses wind turbines, placing ads in their mag to get people to sign up in return for Ecotricity giving a £60 donation to the Vegan Society every time one of their members signs up. If the RSPB and the Vegan Society are not sticking up for the birds and bats, who will? Excuse me while I get down off my soapbox. 🙂 Thanks again so much for your highly valued feedback. I’m so glad you like Venus’s stories 😀
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This is all very unsettling, isn’t it? It’s like the world is being led by the engineers, and as you say, they just settle for what they’ve invented even though it kills people! Humans are so careless and blind to their impact on the world, on the birds an on the delicate ecosystems which the birds and bats exist within.
It is interesting now that the angelic sheen is gone from wind turbines, they do look rather sinister, don’t they? They crept up to us and they promised to be good and clean and right, while all the time, they are a danger to all flying creatures. It’s terrible.
It’s at least possible to educate people of these informations, and perhaps we can change it all. It’s encouraging to hear that they are developing harmless ones 🙂
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Yes indeed, thanks again for your kind words 🙂
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Wow, that’s a great episode 😀 So intense and funny and important. I love how Venus makes a connection with her new friends, and how they have fun together. Great to see Venus helping Mr. Turtle too 😀
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Thank you so much, I’m so glad you’re enjoying these stories 😀
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This is a brilliant comic! I really like her new friends and their activities trying to be electricity-free! I also really like their hijacking of the assembly – a lot of assemblies could do with a spruce up like that. And it’s awesome that they are planting trees – you can’t go wrong with trees.
I really liked this story. It is great fun and has interesting characters and beautiful illustrations.
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Thank you so much, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed Venus’s latest adventure. It’s time she had a new one 😉
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Coming soon?? 😉
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Just as soon as I come up with an idea 😉
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