EU bid to ban patio heaters (even though they don't harm the planet)

Dr Eric Johnson spoke out as Euro MPs were about to demand that outdoor heaters be banned to tackle climate change.

Millions of Britons have the heaters in their gardens and they give a vital boost to trade at pubs, cafes and restaurants by enabling customers to sit outside in cool weather.

They have become particularly important to pubs since the smoking ban prevented customers smoking inside pubs.

Industry experts say a ban on outdoor heaters could cost the pub and catering trade £250million a year in lost business.

Euro MPs are today due to vote on a resolution calling on the European Commission to set a timetable for abolishing goods with low energy-efficiency ratings, with outdoor patio heaters specifically mentioned.

But Dr Eric Johnson, national expert reviewer for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said plasma televisions produced more carbon dioxide than patio heaters.

"The overall impact of outdoor heaters on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions is very minimal, and once you look at the domestic models used in homes, the impact is almost non-existent," he said.

"Once comparisons start with wellknown offenders such as aeroplanes, outdoorheaters dwarf in comparison. In fact, plasma TVs produce far more CO2 than patio heaters when you compare normal usage patterns for each appliance.

"What constitutes a waste of energy is always going to be open to debate but it is important that the public is properly educated about environmental impacts."

Dr Johnson said Government figures showed that emissions from all domestic patio heaters amounted to 22,200 tons of carbon dioxide - only 0.002 per cent of the total UK CO2 emissions.

By contrast, TVs produce 4.6million tons of CO2 a year in the UK. It would take an equivalent of more than five patio heaters to produce as much CO2 as one TV on stand-by mode does in a year.

Today's European Parliament vote was initiated by Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall, who represents the North-East.

She has also called for the abolition of the stand-by mode on electrical appliances and new EU-wide minimum standards for energy efficiency covering air conditioning, TV "decoder" boxes and lightbulbs.

If her motion is passed the Commission will have to consider it. The resolution does not specify how long the phasing-out period should be, saying the decision should be left to the Commission.