There is public debate and a degree of concern about the draft "Air Protection Law", but in practice the regulation does not ban the use of biomass (for example, firewood, pellets or wood chips), coal or peat for heating homes.
The Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC) takes regular air measurements in Rīga, Liepāja, Ventspils and Rēzekne. If air quality in any of these cities falls short of the standards, the local authority will draw up an air quality improvement plan, which may include a range of measures — for instance, one such measure could be replacing heating appliances with cleaner technologies (heat pumps, say), or setting other requirements to reduce the air pollution that heating appliances produce.
With this draft law we are giving local authorities the right, or the discretion, to act — not the obligation — where poor air quality has been identified in a particular area, so that residents can be assured of a clean and healthy environment in their city.
Households will be able to carry on using biomass, coal or peat, provided they are not located in one of the problem areas where the local authority has decided to impose restrictions. We are talking about local solutions for situations and areas where air quality is already poor. Heating with firewood, pellets and wood chips is not being banned, but it may be restricted in certain places, and only after careful assessment and the drawing up of a plan.
Biomass heating — especially outdated and inefficient wood-burning stoves and boilers with poor draught — accounts for more than half of PM2.5 particulate emissions in Latvia, which has an adverse effect on respiratory health. These particles are invisible to the human eye, yet they take a toll on health.
Already today, through support programmes such as the Emission Allowance Auction Instrument (EKII), residents can replace their existing fossil-fuel heating boiler with an environmentally friendly solution. To make such opportunities available to a wider section of the public — including those who currently heat their homes with biomass (wood chips, pellets, firewood) — our task is to secure additional funding and provide accessible support for introducing the cleanest technologies in households, including by developing new support programmes, among them under the Modernisation Fund and the Social Climate Fund.
On 6 May the government gave the Ministry of Climate and Energy (KEM) the green light to draw up a social climate plan, which KEM plans to submit to the government for consideration in June this year. This plan is needed for Latvia to receive Social Climate Fund funding. The funding available to Latvia is estimated at EUR 616.9 million, which is to be directed towards, among other things, helping vulnerable households replace their existing heating solutions and carry out energy efficiency measures.
Work to improve air quality is under way in all European Union (EU) member states; unfortunately, air pollution does not respect national borders. The draft air protection law is currently undergoing inter-ministerial consultation.