A new report from climate thinktank Ember reveals that last year, Drax power station emitted four times more carbon than the UK’s last coal-fired plant, despite receiving over £0.5 billion in clean energy subsidies.
The North Yorkshire plant, which burns imported wood pellets, was the UK’s top carbon emitter in 2023, responsible for 11.5 million tonnes of CO2, nearly 3% of the nation’s total emissions.
This comes despite billions in subsidies since Drax shifted from coal to biomass in 2012.
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Frankie Mayo, an analyst at Ember, said, “Burning wood pellets can be as bad for the environment as coal; supporting biomass with subsidies is a costly mistake.”
Since 2012, the company has claimed nearly £7 billion from British energy bills for its biomass power, despite the fact that burning wood pellets for electricity produces more emissions per unit than gas or coal, according to Ember and various scientists.
In 2023 alone, it received £539 million.
The company plans to use additional subsidies to install carbon-capture technology at Drax. It aims to create a ‘bioenergy with carbon capture and storage‘ (BECCS) project and become the world’s first ‘carbon-negative’ power plant by the end of the decade.
A government spokesperson said the report “fundamentally misrepresents” how biomass emissions are measured.
“The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change is clear that biomass sourced in line with strict sustainability criteria can be used as a low-carbon source of energy. We will continue to monitor biomass electricity generation to ensure it meets required standards,” the spokesman said.
Climate authorities, including the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK’s Climate Change Committee, have featured BECCS in their long-term plans for how governments can achieve climate goals.
