Drax is set to receive a total of £11bn in subsidies after converting the majority of its North Yorkshire plant to run on so-called biomass, despite the findings of a government study eight years ago. The report undermines recent claims by Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng that the plant’s green credentials “have not been challenged”. The report was reviewed by the Telegraph this week, but was originally published in 2014. Mike Childs, head of research at Friends of the Earth, said: “For over a decade the government has known that in some cases burning biomass to produce electricity can be worse than burning gas or coal. “However they have failed to set strict enough standards for what can be burned and where it comes from. “In contrast, Drax has received billions of pounds worth of public subsidies.” Commissioned by the Department of Energy, the 2014 report examined the carbon intensity of burning wood for energy. It found that using forest “residues” for fuel was less carbon intensive than burning gas and coal over a 100-year period, but that using whole trees was worse than burning coal when measured over 40 years and 100 years. Forest residues are materials such as leaves, bark, branches and log fragments that would otherwise go to sawmills. More than a third of the wood burned at the plant comes from whole trees, according to Friends of the Earth, although the company disputed that figure. In a leaked recording revealed earlier this month, Mr Kwarteng claimed that Drax’s practice of importing firewood from North America “doesn’t make any sense” and that “we haven’t actually challenged some of the facilities of”. Drax’s Yorkshire plant burns around 7 million tonnes of wood pellets a year, most of which is imported from North America. The energy produced is classified as renewable, and the company recently claimed it could even qualify as “negative emissions” if it starts capturing and storing carbon emissions from the site’s smokestacks using experimental technology. Last year, Drax received £893 million in taxpayer subsidies for burning forest biomass, according to energy think tank Ember, adding £11.60 to the average household’s energy bill. This year it is expected to receive another £884m, taking the total amount of subsidies it has received since 2012 to £6.5bn. From 2023 to 2027, the company is set to receive a further £4.5bn. However, Mr Kwarteng, the Business Minister, recently threw cold water on Drax’s eco claims. Speaking to MPs, he was secretly recorded saying the government could soon “end” burning wood for power – before adding: “We’re not at that point yet.” According to the Guardian, he added: “We have not challenged some of them [sustainability] its facilities. “It doesn’t make sense to get it from Louisiana — that’s not sustainable … to ship these wood pellets halfway around the world — that doesn’t make any sense to me.” A government spokesman said: “The Business Secretary has always been clear that biomass plays a key role in boosting Britain’s energy security, having supplied enough reliable electricity from renewable sources to keep the lights on for 4 million households. “The more domestic energy, such as biomass we produce at home, the less exposed we will be to volatile gas prices that drive up bills. “The UK government only supports biomass that meets our strict sustainability criteria and with carbon capture and storage, can permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” A Drax spokesman said 75% of the material going into the mill’s wood pellets was sawdust, wood chips and dead and diseased wood that would otherwise have been sent to landfill or burned anyway. He added: “We are confident that the biomass used by Drax delivers positive outcomes for people, the climate and nature. We agree that wood, produced from sawdust, would not be a sustainable form of biomass and therefore we do not use it to make wood pellets. “The biomass used by Drax includes sawdust, wood chips and other forest residues that are discarded when the sustainable forests they come from are harvested for high-value timber used in construction and furniture making. “This material would have been burned or landfilled if not used for bioenergy. The low quality roundwood we use is diseased, damaged, warped wood that has no further use after being discarded by sawmills because it is not suitable for use in furniture or construction.”
