27 arrests foil Climate Camp but real climate criminals are given Government subsidies.
A week-long climate camp planned by Reclaim the Power, to raise awareness of the climate-damaging wood-burning power station near Selby in North Yorkshire had to be cancelled following the arrest of 22 of the organisers and the confiscation of toilets, wheelchair ramps and kitchen equipment. I met with some of the disappointed campaigners in Sheffield on Saturday, hearing stories of the police smashing down front doors and confiscating laptops and vehicles to put a stop to the peaceful camp before it started.
Instead, a protest was arranged outside the camp on Sunday, August 11th attended by many from South Yorkshire. Banners read “Stop burning trees”, “Solidarity from Yorkshire to Mississippi”, “Stop CO2lonialism”, “£8,000,000,000 subsidies a year” and “Forests are not fuel”. A heavy police presence restricted the protesters to a tiny piece of verge in front of the cooling towers.
An organiser explained “Drax Power Station is the world’s biggest wood biomass power station and the UK’s single largest carbon emitter. Drax sources wood from around the world, primarily the US, Canada, and the Baltic States. Drax’s wood pellet production sites emit large amounts of pollutants, such as PM10, PM2.5 and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which are linked to respiratory and pulmonary health impacts. Woody biomass is counted as carbon neutral by the UK Government, allowing Drax to receive renewable energy subsidies.”
Subsidising Drax means that vast sums of public money are funding a project that is actively fuelling the climate crisis, and causing huge harm to human life and the planet. Reclaim the Power say there is a chance to stop this and we have to do it now.
Emissions
A new annual ranking of official data shows Drax power station is by far the largest emitter of CO2 in the country, emitting more than the next four largest power stations combined. In 2023 alone, Drax emitted over 11 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Drax power station used to burn coal but has converted to burning wood pellets (biomass). They claim that this means that they are now providing ‘green energy’ and receive huge public subsidies as a result, but in fact, biomass has hugely negative impacts on the environment, on their workers and on communities where the pellets are produced.
Drax is not sustainable or renewable. It burns more trees than any other power station in the world and is the UK’s largest single source of carbon emissions. Drax and the government claim that these emissions ‘don’t count’ because the trees are grown in other countries, and because one day far in the future another tree will store that carbon. But it’s common sense that they do count, right here and right now – they are contributing to catastrophic climate change today. We need a real plan for reducing emissions, not a fantasy based on false accounting.
Drax claims that Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) could capture the CO2 emitted from the plant. So far only 2 projects have succeeded in capturing carbon at Drax, but these are in tiny quantities. There is no evidence to suggest that this technology will be successful at the scale necessary to make the plant carbon neutral.
Pollution
Drax is toxic and dangerous. Drax power station is one of the highest emitters of particulate pollution in Europe, which causes lung disease and other respiratory problems and it has been accused of endangering the health of their workers. The production of wood pellets in North America causes dust and pollution, which is damaging the health of people in marginalised communities and is a major injustice.
Drax has been accused of driving “environmental racism” in the Southern USA after settling air pollution violation claims at its pellet mills in Louisiana and the company has been fined for emitting illegal levels of volatile organic compounds that have been linked to breathing difficulties, cancer and other serious illnesses.
Destruction of forests
Earlier this year, BBC Panorama revealed that Drax is continuing to log primary forests in British Columbia that have never been cut before, while BBC Newsnight reported last month that the company has breached environmental laws 189 times at its pellet mills in Canada.
Subsidies
Drax is very expensive. Taxes are subsidising Drax by nearly £2 million a day, even though it made over £1 billion in profits in 2023. These profits come from sky-high energy bills – so we are paying twice! Drax is currently trying to get these subsidies renewed, so now is a crucial time act. Our government should be investing in genuine green energy solutions like insulation, wind, solar and hydropower, not scams like Drax. As the Reclaim the Power activists face a trial, the real climate criminals are awarded subsidies.
The Guardian recently wrote “The company has claimed almost £7bn from British energy bills to support its biomass generation since 2012, even though burning wood pellets for power generation releases more emissions for each unit of electricity generated than burning gas or coal, according to Ember and many scientists. In 2023, the period covered by the Ember report, it received £539m.
Responding to news of the arrests co-executive director of Greenpeace UK Areeeba Hamid said:
“These pre-emptive arrests are a worrying legacy of the previous government’s crusade to restrict peaceful protest. The protesters were only planning a peaceful protest camp against one of the UK’s worst polluters.
“The inspiring public response we’ve seen to racist rioting in the last few days is a powerful reminder of the vital role peaceful protest plays in our society. We must not give in to political attempts to demonise protestors, refugees and minority groups. We have the opportunity for a clean break and for this new government to change direction by rolling back some of the draconian laws and making space for all voices to be heard.”
Further Reading
Client Earth on Greenwashing at Drax
Write to Ed Milliband
A letter writing campaign is asking Ed Milliband to stop the subsidies to Drax. New subsidies would allow power stations to keep burning trees and destroying forests at our expense for years to come, with no time limit for the funding mentioned in the Government consultation.
New subsidies for burning wood won’t do anything to lower our energy bills, or help to tackle the climate emergency with scientists around the world warning that burning wood for energy increases global heating. The new Government should work to replace Drax with truly renewable power as soon as possible.
My letter to Ed Milliband
I am writing to you as our newly elected Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero to ask you to stop any new subsidies for tree-burning power stations, like Drax in Yorkshire and Lynemouth in Northumberland.
I am deeply alarmed that the Government is using UK energy bills to fund wood-burning companies like Drax which is the UK’s single largest carbon emitter and the world’s biggest tree burner, and worse, is considering handing billions more in subsidies to big polluters Drax and Lynemouth.
Drax is currently receiving around £1.9m per day from UK billpayers to burn trees whilst making record profits (https://tinyurl.com/2m98uz2j).
Earlier this year, the previous UK Government announced proposals to use our energy bills to give even more money to fund continued tree burning at power stations like Drax and Lynemouth (https://tinyurl.com/4zmsza8h), at an estimated cost to UK bill payers of up to £2.5 billion a year. This would leave very little in the green energy budget to fund genuine renewables.
There is no real-world evidence that Drax or Lynemouth have the technical ability to operate BECCS at scale in the future. Continuing subsidies now would do nothing to support BECCS, and would simply be a continuation of unabated tree burning, leading to huge carbon emissions and devastating impacts on forests and communities.
Last year alone, Drax emitted over 11 million tonnes of CO2 from burning trees (https://tinyurl.com/yck639rf). Far from being ‘carbon neutral’, scientists from around the world have warned that burning wood for energy will increase global warming for decades to centuries (https://tinyurl.com/3r3fkyjh).
Earlier this year, BBC Panorama revealed that Drax is continuing to log primary forests in British Columbia that have never been cut before (https://tinyurl.com/4avb6sk2), while BBC Newsnight reported last month that the company has breached environmental laws 189 times at its pellet mills in Canada. (https://tinyurl.com/2cbfde9n)
Drax has been accused of driving “environmental racism” in the Southern USA after settling air pollution violation claims at its pellet mills in Louisiana (https://tinyurl.com/yc68bwet), and the company has been fined for emitting illegal levels of volatile organic compounds that have been linked to breathing difficulties, cancer and other serious illnesses. (http://tinyurl.com/yc68bwet)
Burning wood in power stations like Drax and Lynemouth is also harming the health of people here in the UK as it emits very harmful air pollution, including PM2.5 particulates, that can cause cancer and other severe illnesses.
Any new subsidies would do nothing to reduce energy bills or help support a transition to renewable wind and solar power and they would only perpetuate this forest destruction and harm to nature and communities. Instead you should be prioritising insulating homes and workplaces to reduce the energy we need and protect us from heatwaves.
I believe that renewable energy subsidies should not be spent on supporting inefficient, high-carbon and polluting wood-burning power stations that are fuelling injustice and making the climate and nature emergencies worse. Instead, as the Secretary of State for DESNZ, you have the power to transfer these subsidies away from wood-burning power stations to fund genuine climate solutions like home insulation and wind and solar power. This would create new green jobs and help to tackle both the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
Graham Wroe
If I get a reply I will let you know.
Discover more from Tell the Truth Sheffield
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
4 thoughts on “Axe Drax!”