The Competition Council recommends the expansion of the natural gas distribution network, so that it will phase out wood heating, which will lead to the reduction of pollution, saving of raw materials and, implicitly, the reduction of illegal cuts, according to a statement of the institution. The recommendation comes after an analysis of the competition authority on the firewood market revealed, among other things, that gas heating is much cheaper.

“Thus, the efficiency of converting firewood into thermal energy for common stoves is generally very low, respectively between 20- 40%, while the efficiency of converting electricity and methane gas into thermal energy reaches 99%. The cost for obtaining a GC using firewood varies between 200 and 349 lei, while the cost for methane gas is between 169.3 – 178.7 lei, in the case of installations for obtaining the thermal energy used, generally, by the population,” according to the statement quoted by Agerpres.

Thus, firewood is an expensive raw material, mainly used in inefficient, polluting stoves, the heating of the house is usually partial and the thermal comfort is reduced. Replacing the heating devices with more efficient ones could be a first step in the process of reducing the amount of firewood used for heating.