New evaluation from power suppose tank Ember reveals 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 higher than every other single UK energy station, together with coal and gasoline.
The plant is by far the biggest 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 biggest business emitter, which had 5.7 million tonnes CO2 of emissions in 2022.
Regardless of its restricted position 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’s because wooden needs to be burned in greater volumes than fossil fuels to provide the identical quantity of power. The Drax biomass plant accounts for many of the UK’s energy generated from wood-burning.
Tomos Harrison, Electrical energy Transition Analyst, Ember, mentioned: “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 power 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 power. Nonetheless, the idea that every one emissions launched are offset by the expansion of recent timber to exchange these harvested for burning has been broadly challenged. A big and rising majority of scientific proof reveals that burning wooden for energy is commonly not carbon impartial, and in some circumstances is usually a worse polluter than coal.
UK plans for reaching Internet Zero proceed to depend on damaging emissions from Bioenergy with Carbon Seize and Storage (BECCS). This consists of pathways set out by the Local weather Change Committee, the UK’s advisory group for local weather change. Nonetheless, the power of a BECCS undertaking to ship damaging emissions relies on whether or not the biomass used is carbon-neutral.
Presently, Drax is the one firm within the UK growing BECCS within the energy sector. It’s seeking 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.”