Residential biomass burning (BB) is a significant source of air pollutants, contributing to climate change, air quality degradation, and health risks. Despite its widespread use, the emission factors (EFs) applied in national inventories are largely based on laboratory experiments, which do not always reflect real-world emissions. Variables such as fuel type, ignition techniques, appliance characteristics, maintenance, and user behaviour significantly influence emissions but remain underrepresented in current inventories. Emerging pollutants, such as black carbon (BC) and the oxidative potential (OP) of particulate matter (PM), are still insufficiently characterised under real-life conditions, limiting the accuracy of inventories and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.
The BioBurn project aims to improve the accuracy of BB emission inventories by integrating real-world EFs and analysing the factors that influence them, including their impact on the OP of PM. The work plan includes four main tasks: (1) quantification of real-world EFs for residential BB; (2) assessment of carbonaceous content and OP of PM emissions; (3) identification of key variables influencing EF and OP variability; (4) development of high-resolution emission inventories incorporating both laboratory-derived and real-world EFs; and (5) assessment of the accuracy of emission inventories through air quality modelling. As key outcomes, BioBurn will deliver a robust dataset of real-world EFs, OP data, and updated emission inventories, identifying discrepancies with laboratory-based values and the main drivers of emissions and PM toxicity. These results will support national and European strategies for emission reduction and climate action.
