New evaluation from vitality suppose tank Ember exhibits that the wood-burning Drax energy station is the UK’s largest supply of CO2 emissions at 12.1 million tonnes in 2022. That is considerably better than some other single UK energy station, together with coal and gasoline.
The plant is by far the most important single CO2 emitter within the UK energy sector, accounting for over double the quantity of CO2 emissions of the second largest emitter, RWE’s Pembroke Fuel Energy Station, with 5.3 million tonnes CO2 emissions. Drax’s emissions are additionally greater than double Port Talbot Steelworks, the most important trade emitter, which had 5.7 million tonnes CO2 of emissions in 2022.
Regardless of its restricted function within the UK’s energy system, burning wooden is now the UK electrical energy sector’s second largest CO2 emitter after fossil gasoline. Woody biomass generated lower than 5% of energy in 2022, however accounted for a fifth of UK energy sector emissions. It is because wooden must be burned in larger volumes than fossil fuels to provide the identical quantity of vitality. The Drax biomass plant accounts for many of the UK’s energy generated from wood-burning.
Tomos Harrison, Electrical energy Transition Analyst, Ember, stated: “It’s a startling fact that the UK’s largest single source of greenhouse gases is a government-backed project that receives hundreds of millions in energy bill payer funding every year.”
Biomass energy continues to be subsidised regardless of dangers to the local weather
In 2022 Drax obtained an estimated £617 million in public subsidy from UK vitality invoice payers. Biomass qualifies for these subsidies, together with exemption from carbon taxes, as a result of wooden is categorised as an emissions-free supply of vitality. Nonetheless, the idea that each one emissions launched are offset by the expansion of latest timber to interchange these harvested for burning has been extensively challenged. A big and rising majority of scientific proof exhibits that burning wooden for energy is usually not carbon impartial, and in some circumstances could be a worse polluter than coal.
UK plans for reaching Web Zero proceed to depend on detrimental emissions from Bioenergy with Carbon Seize and Storage (BECCS). This contains pathways set out by the Local weather Change Committee, the UK’s advisory group for local weather change. Nonetheless, the flexibility of a BECCS undertaking to ship detrimental emissions depends on whether or not the biomass used is carbon-neutral.
At present, Drax is the one firm within the UK growing BECCS within the energy sector. It’s trying to safe long-term monetary dedication from the UK authorities to assist this undertaking. Analysis by Ember suggests the undertaking would require a subsidy of £31.7 billion.
Harrison commented: “The science is clear – burning wood for power is far from guaranteed carbon neutral. It doesn’t make sense to gamble public money on Drax’s BECCS project when there’s a risk it could significantly add to the UK’s emissions.”
