The government is introducing a revolution in wood. See what you can't smoke in the oven!

Polish households are on the verge of a fundamental change in heating. The Ministry of Climate and Environment finalises work on regulations that will forever change the firewood market. fresh regulations, expected between August and September, will introduce for the first time in Polish past precise legal definition of energy wood. This means that not all part of wood can legally enter a home stove or fireplace. The goal is not how the government calms down the ban on wood smoking, but to reduce waste of valuable natural material. It is simply a situation where high-quality wood, perfect for the furniture or construction industry, ends up as fuel. This transformation is intended to direct valuable natural material to the economy, and to heat only what has no better use. For millions of Poles, this means paying more attention to what they buy for fire.

New regulations come into force. What is "energy wood"?

The key to knowing the coming changes is simply a new, strict definition "energy wood". It will be able to be legally sold and utilized as fuel in households. In order to qualify for this category, the wood will gotta meet strict criteria for both dimensions and quality. As Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Mikołaj Doroża explains, the aim is to separate industrial natural material from the 1 that should actually service as fuel.

The fresh rules are based on 2 pillars. The first is dimensions of pieces of wood. Shorter fragments will be considered energy only if their diameter in the thinnest place does not exceed 5 cm (for wood without bark) or 7 cm (for wood with bark). In turn, longer pieces, up to a maximum of 3 metres, must have at least 5 cm or 7 cm in diameter in the thickest place. The second equally crucial criterion is quality. The firewood will gotta have at least 1 crucial defectwhich disqualifies them from industrial use. The catalog of these defects is very circumstantial and includes:

• Excessive curvature to prevent abrasion at the industrial plant.
• The presence of soft rot.
• The occurrence of a lignite that occupies at least half of the cross-sectional area at 1 end.
• A burn covering at least 50% of the cross-sectional area.
• Charcoal covering at least half of the wood surface.

In practice, this means that simple, healthy and thick pieces of wood, which present frequently go to furnaces, will should be directed towards industry. For heating, the natural material of poorer quality would not have found any other, more valuable use.

Why does the government change the law? The economy and Polish forests

The decision to introduce a definition of energy wood is not accidental. It is part of a broader strategy of a country with the aim of rationalising the usage of forest resources and strengthening the Polish economy. Combustion in wood kilns, which could be utilized to manufacture furniture, floors or building materials, is an economical waste. The wood manufacture generates much higher added value and creates unchangeable jobs, which translates into real benefits for the full country.

New regulations are besides intended to aid fight illegal logging. Clear and precise classification criteria will importantly impede the sale of stolen natural material as fuel. Control services will gain a circumstantial tool to verify whether the wood offered can actually be legally utilized for heating purposes. This is an crucial step towards reducing the rate of failure to the State Forests all year and destroying Polish forest ecosystems.

It is worth noting that the State Forests, the main supplier of natural material for the market, are in good financial condition. According to Deputy Minister Dorożała, last year ended with a net profit of PLN 764 millionwhich has outdone the forecasts. The current fluctuations in timber prices, including a 15% decrease last year, are not due to the situation in Poland, but to geopolitical factors specified as the war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Belarus, which have disrupted European supply chains.

No more smoking in the oven? The Ministry calms down, but there are fears

There have been many voices of concern on social media and local communities. Many people fear that fresh regulations are hidden No wood smoking or that they will lead to drastic increases in prices and problems with availability of fuel. Government representatives powerfully deny these reports. Deputy Minister Mikołaj Doroża has repeatedly stressed that the aim is not to hinder the lives of citizens, but to organize the market.

"No 1 intends to prohibit Poles from heating their homes with wood" – this is the main message from the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The change is that from the minute of entry into force of the legislation, only wood gathering the "energy" criteria can be marketed as fuel. The government ensures that the natural material of this category is in the forests adequate to meet household needs. Since the regulations concern lower-value timber, this should not importantly affect its price.

Despite these assurances, concerns remain, especially in agrarian areas, where wood is the primary and cheapest origin of heat. Key to the impact assessment will be the first months after their introduction. It will then turn out how the marketplace will respond to fresh rules and whether availability and the prices of firewood will indeed stay stable, as promised by the government.

What does that mean for you? That's what you request to pay attention to erstwhile you buy fuel.

For the average Pole heating the home with wood, the upcoming changes mean first of all the necessity greater awareness and caution erstwhile shopping. erstwhile the regulation comes into force, buying firewood, it will be worth asking the seller any additional questions. First of all, make certain that the natural material offered is classified as ‘energy wood’ and that the seller can confirm it.

In practice, work for appropriate classification will remainder on suppliers – State Forests and private timber sellers. However, the consumer should be delicate to attempts to sale high-quality industrial wood as fuel, as this may be against the fresh law. It will be worth paying attention to the appearance of the wood – whether it is besides simple, thick and without defects, which could propose its industrial purpose.

This regulation fits into the wider trend of fighting for clean air in Poland. Wood marketplace sequencing is 1 of the elements of a strategy to reduce low emissions, alongside programmes specified as Clean Air and thermomodernisation of buildings. Although at first glance the fresh regulations may seem burdensome, in the long word they are intended to benefit both the economy and the environment and the wellness of all Poles.