RO competition body recommends natural gas over wood for heating

The cost for obtaining a Gcal of heat by burning firewood in Romania ranges between RON 200 and 349 (EUR 42-74), while the cost of gas heating is RON 169-179 (EUR 36-38) per Gcal, Romania’s Competition Council (CC) concluded after an investigation on the firewood market.

The Council admits, however, that the price of firewood has surged over the past couple of years because of “dysfunctionalities” in the market and higher demand than supply.

Moreover, higher quality wood is frequently used for heating in the absence of regular firewood, which makes wood heating the more expensive and reduces the available raw materials for the timber and furniture industries.

CC recommends expanding the natural gas distribution network in order to substitute the use of firewood with methane gas, which will lead to lower pollution, the saving of raw materials and, consequently, the reduction of illegal cuts.

Firewood is the main source of heating in Romania. The number of households that use firewood for heating is 3.415 million, representing 45.7% of the total households registered at national level, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS).

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