It just goes to show, it's alway something - Roseanne Roseannadanna

Smoking ban leads to environmental row over pub heaters

Wednesday June 20 2007

If environmental campaigners have their way, smokers may not simply be banished from bars and pubs once the government's anti-smoking legislation kicks in on July 1; they'll be freezing cold too.

by Nick Morgan

The problem - as demonstrated by the Scots who already have a smoking ban in place - is that pubs naturally want to retain their smoking customers. So they've bought up patio heaters in abundance to keep the smokers warm while they get their nicotine fix.

But new research by British Gas found that the heaters could end up damaging the environment more than gas-guzzling 4x4s. According to their figures, a commercial gas-fired patio heater can emit almost 4 tonnes of CO2 a year. That's two-thirds of the six tonnes of CO2 emitted by the average household.

Furthermore British Gas reckons that patio heaters in Scottish pubs emit up to 10,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, with the average heater emitting more CO2 in a year than a Range Rover. They calculate that the figure could rocket to 160,000 tonnes of CO2 once English pubs follow suit. That's almost 10% of the annual reduction the UK needs to meet its Kyoto commitments by 2012.

“We're working hard to help homeowners reduce their carbon footprint by cutting down on wasted energy,” said British Gas Energy Efficiency manager, Jon Kimber. “There has been a real step change in people's concerns about reducing their impact on the environment and it's worrying to see these efforts cancelled out by a sudden boom in patio heater sales.”

British Gas surveyed 250 pubs in Scotland, where the ban on smoking has been in place for nearly a year, and found that half had purchased a patio heater for customers, with many others also considering buying one. This concern has led to Friends of the Earth calling for an all out ban on the sale of patio heaters.

"Patio heaters waste energy and inflict unnecessary damage on the environment,” said Friends of the Earth Director, Tony Juniper. “UK carbon dioxide emissions are rising, despite Government promises of substantial cuts. Ministers must do more to get their climate strategy back on track. It's time to ban the sale of these metal monstrosities."

A smattering of retailers has heeded the call. Leading garden chain Wyevale has announced it is to stop selling patio heaters, while garden centre chain Notcutts said they will follow suit and "have now elected to sell through current stocks of Gas and Electric Patio heaters and not to stock in the future".

Does this mean smokers will freeze? Perhaps not. British Gas has some solutions for pubs who want to remain environmentally friendly without risking frostbite for their smoking customers. It recommends wood-burning chimeneas or braziers, which offer a carbon neutral way to keep warm outdoors; or electric heaters, which emit less CO2 but give off more focused heat.

Ben Tuxworth, Communications Director at Forum for the Future, offered a rather different solution.

“It's pretty sad that keeping warm while you have a cigarette is more important than tackling climate change, especially in a country familiar with simpler remedies to chilly evenings, such as the woolly jumper!” he said. “Surely these pubs could save money by scrapping the patio heaters and offering free pints to people who give up smoking.”