Author: Rafael Pupovac, Business analyst and consultant Inefficient heating devices are the primary source of PM2.5 emissions in the Western Balkans[1]. The total number of annual premature deaths in the Western Balkans (WB6) attributable to PM2.5 emissions from households is estimated at 24,756, while the total annual costs attributable to inefficient and inadequate household heating… Read More »Can we afford to continue investing so little in solving a problem so costly: how to finance household heating upgrades?

Author: Stefanovski Zdravko grad.mech.eng. Senior Technical Energy Efficiency Expert   The building stock is both unique and heterogeneous in its relation to the cultural diversity and history of the Western Balkans. It is aged and subject to a slow pace of renovation. More than 7 million dwellings were built till 2015 covering more than 523… Read More »Does your house have a coat for the winter?

Author: Dušan Kitanović The market for heating systems in the Western Balkans used to be traditionally dominated by solid fuel appliances which were cheap to buy and supplied with fuel (wood and coal) that were easily accessible for most people. In the last decade with the introduction of pellet stoves and boilers and more recently… Read More »What is the future of biomass-based household heating devices in the Western Balkans?

Author: Pavle Golicin   You’re smart… You change the old for the new… You change the bad for the good… You change the wrong for the right…[1] Thinking about the change-out of old stoves, I kept singing these lyrics. The song writers certainly didn’t have stoves on their mind, but their words for sure make… Read More »Mass change-out scheme? Who’s going to do it?

Author: Rebeka Božović “Smederevac?” scrap metal dealers were almost puzzled when we interviewed them for the quantities of scrap metal coming from disused solid fuel stoves, “Oh yes, we do get one, every now and then!” In Šumadija area, in central Serbia, as well as in many rural parts of the Western Balkans, the solid… Read More »Publicly funded change-out schemes for wood-fired stoves must be conditional on the safe and efficient turnover of old devices: Here’s why

Author: Darko Stojilović, Psychology MA In the Western Balkans, the use of wood, coal or other solid fuels is excessively high. Two-thirds of all households in the region use solid fuels or fuelwood for heating, while at least 3 million households operate wood or coal stoves and furnaces as the primary heating devices. Even when… Read More »Security, practicality and sticking to “what is natural”: Behavioural patterns related to household-heating practices in Serbia