by According to scientific research, Drax will continue to increase levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere until 2050, despite using carbon capture technology.
The large power station in North Yorkshire is a major electricity producer for Britain but has been repeatedly criticized for its business model of burning wood pellets from forests in the US and Canada.
The new study found that the intensive forest management required to extract 7 million tons of wood pellets annually from U.S. forests and burn them as fuel would erode the carbon stored in these pine forests’ ecosystems for at least 25 years.
Drax was once one of the largest coal-fired power stations in Europe, but its owners claim the switch to burning wood pellets means it is now a source of ‘carbon neutral’ electricity as the emissions produced by the chimneys are offset by the absorbed emissions. by the trees grown to produce the pellets.
The research was based on a 2021 peer-reviewed analysis of the carbon emissions associated with using biomass pellets sourced from three Drax factories in the southern US and burned to generate around 4% of the UK’s electricity.
The original research, by Dr. Thomas Buchholz of the Spatial Informatics Group, a scientific think tank, found that demand for wood pellets created by Drax would lead to reduced forest carbon stocks in managed pine forests in Louisiana and Mississippi, which could reduce emissions to the atmosphere increase by at least a minimum of 40 years.
An update to the study found that the power plant’s plan to equip the plant with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology by 2030 would reduce this period of rising emissions, but these would still be higher than they would otherwise have been decades, spanning a period of 2030. The period scientists have warned about is crucial in tackling the climate crisis.
“The results show that the CCS technology itself is less important than the impact of wood pellet sourcing on forest carbon stocks and flows,” the study said.
The company, which has claimed more than £7 billion in payer-funded biomass subsidies since 2012, is in talks with the government to extend the subsidies from their end date of 2027 to 2030, so that it can use CCS technology in the plant from 2030 to 2030 can apply. generating electricity with “negative emissions”.
These claims have been refuted by scientists and the latest research is likely to once again raise questions about Drax’s green credentials and government support for biomass energy.
The government has thrown its weight behind CCS technology, last month pledging up to £21.7 billion in funding over 25 years to the industry.
Chris Hinchliff, a Labor MP on the environmental audit committee, said: “The science behind Drax’s claims that he can achieve negative carbon emissions appears to be dangerously flawed.
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“As climate change threatens our planet, difficult choices must be made. Public funds should not be spent on operations that are incompatible with Britain’s pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. There are many other decarbonisation projects that offer tangible climate benefits and are much more worthwhile investing.”
In August, Drax agreed to pay the regulator a £25 million fine for submitting incorrect data on wood pellet sourcing from Canada between April 2021 and the end of March 2022.
The company has also faced claims, the Financial Times reports, that it has used environmentally important wood sourced from old-growth forests in Canada, despite calls that these forests should be protected because their benefits include absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere for centuries.
A spokesman for Drax said the research “contradicts what the world’s leading climate scientists are saying” about the need for bioenergy equipped with carbon capture – known as Beccs – to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
“Drax is committed to rigorous data and transparent reporting to ensure that our current biomass production and future Beccs activities support positive climate outcomes across all time scales, based on the best available science,” the spokesperson said.
“This report attempts to use limited scientific knowledge to validate a seemingly predetermined view that Beccs is not sustainable. It uses assumptions and models that do not reflect Drax’s purchasing practices or typical forestry operations in the southern US,” she added.
