Study clears forestry smoke

A study commissioned by Forestry Tasmania shows that 80 per cent of emissions in Tasmania's Huon Valley is from woodheaters, not regeneration burns.

Forestry asked the CSIRO to study smoke pollution after autumn regeneration burns sparked widespread complaints from Huon Valley residents.

Dr Mick Meyer compared air quality at Geeveston and rural Grove in the Huon Valley for 18 months.

The study revealed that although burn-offs looked dramatic, they produced fewer airborne particles than domestic fires because the smoke column rises above the lower atmosphere.

Eighty per cent of smoke particles in the atmosphere were from wood heaters and only 11 per cent were caused by regeneration burns.

The remaining smoke pollution was from privately lit fires.

Smoke from regeneration burns exceeded healthy limits only three times between April 2009 and May this year.

Dr Meyer says wood heater smoke tends to hang over houses, whereas regeneration burn smoke plumes have enough energy to travel into the troposphere and are dispersed by wind.