POLLUTION WORSE Home-fire coal plan countered

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33478, 8 March 1974, Page 12

POLLUTION WORSE Home-fire coal plan countered

In the past, the mining industry had certainly tried to develop the use of coal for electrical generation and the Clean Air Society had supported it, the chairman of the society’s Christchurch branch (Mr P. V. Neary) said yesterday.

Mr Neary was commenting on a statement made by Mr A D. Smith, a fuel technologist with rie Coal Research Association, in “The Press” yesterday, that using coal to generate electricity was “grossly wasteful.”

"When technologists from the North Island tell us we need to restrict the use of electricity in our homes permanently, we must realise now that they have abundant supplies of natural gas for home use and are not faced with our pollution problems,” Mr Nearv said. The new Clean Air Council had not publiclv authorised the use of any solidfuel appliances in future clean air zones, nor had it confirmed the efficiencies quoted. An appliance in good condition, fed with the correct grade of fuel might well have an efficiency of 70 per cent, but it would not main- J tain peak efficiency when turned to low burning rates, he said. “ft will cost millions to. install these appliances to| take over the heat load of

Christchurch and perhaps the over-all result may not be much of an improvement, for . where else in the world have they been tried out en - masse.” said Mr Neary. "Unfortunately, the products of combustion from solid fuel stoves are discharged at low level, so that one ton of coal burnt on the | domestic grate does as much damage at 200 tons burnt iri a power station.”