http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/02/easmoke102.xml
Smoking ban poses new climate threat
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 02/12/2007
Pubs are likely to pump hundreds of thousands of tons of additional
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a result of the smoking ban.
Policy advisers predict that emissions from patio heaters in pubs and
restaurants will increase from 22,200 tons of greenhouse gases a year
to up to 282,000 tons - the equivalent of flying a jumbo jet 171 times
around the Earth.
Heaters will be used for more than 237 days a year, when outdoor
temperatures are lower than 15C, says the report, from Market
Transformation. A further 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be
produced next year by patio heaters in private gardens, according to
an earlier study by the Energy Saving Trust.
Environmentalists say the heaters must now be banned if Britain is to
meet carbon dioxide emission targets.
Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The impacts of the
smoking ban are positive, but this should not cause more problems for
the environment. Either smokers will have to give up smoking or simply
put on a jumper." |
