Government approves Drax carbon capture plans

Drax says the new technology will allow it to limit its emissions, but critics say it will not be in place for several years.

The government has approved plans to install carbon capture technology at Britain’s biggest power station.

Drax Power Station, located near Selby in North Yorkshire, will be allowed to install the technology in two of its four biomass units, which burn wood pellets to produce electricity.

Will Gardiner, CEO Drax Group, said receiving approval marked "another milestone" in the development of its carbon capture and storage plans.

Climate campaigners, however, have criticised continued government subsidies for Drax, saying unmitigated wood burning would continue at the site for several years until the technology is in place.

The power station, which produces a huge chunk of the UK’s energy, said the new technology could remove around eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when fully operational.

That is around 1.6% of the total emissions that the UK produced in 2022.

The government hailed its decision to approve the plans a “milestone” for its net zero ambitions.

Drax is the UK's biggest power station

In theory the move should create carbon-neutral energy, because the trees and other plants burnt first absorb carbon, then are burnt and release the same carbon back into the atmosphere.

But critics say this assumes that Drax only uses sustainable wood in its boilers. Investigations by the BBC and others have claimed that the company has used wood from environmentally important forests at the plant.

Katy Brown, bioenergy campaigner at Biofuelwatch, said Drax is "driving forest destruction around the world, contributing to biodiversity loss and harming local communities".

She added: "The ongoing subsidies Drax is asking for are simply to allow them to carry on burning wood and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere as usual, with the promise of carbon capture some time way off into the future."

Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK's policy director, said: "The mass-burn of wood pellets in UK power stations is creating a juggernaut of deforestation and extensive land use.

"The government should just get on with delivering genuinely green energy solutions, like wind, solar and storage, that will actually lower bills, not increase them, and help save, not trash, the planet."

Speaking in July when concerns about the sustainability of the wood pellets being used were discussed in the House of Lords a spokesperson for Drax said: "We are confident in our business and operations and committed to ensuring the biomass we source delivers positive outcomes for the climate, for nature and for the communities in which we operate."

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