Power giant Drax told by own advisers to stop calling biomass ‘carbon neutral’ | Climate News

The UK’s largest bioenergy provider has been advised by its personal scientific advisers to cease calling biomass ‘carbon impartial’ – elevating “troublesome questions” about the way forward for the controversial power type when its subsidies expire in 2027.

Drax started burning woody biomass pellets as an alternative of coal to supply electrical energy ten years in the past, on the idea that doing so successfully neutralises the planet-heating carbon emissions, as a result of new timber are planted to soak up these gases.

This science is disputed, however the UK authorities courses bioenergy as renewable. This qualifies Drax for subsidies of round £1.7 million a day for offering about 6% of the nation’s electrical energy.

Drax has now been advised by its impartial advisory board to “reassess its standards for figuring out carbon neutrality”, in line with a abstract of conferences and correspondence final 12 months.

“Drax ought to transfer away from saying ‘carbon shares are rising/secure’ and stating biomass is carbon impartial,” added the board, chaired by former authorities chief scientific adviser Professor Sir John Beddington.

It comes as Drax meets for its AGM right now.

It is going to be hoping for a touch of additional subsidies within the authorities’s lengthy overdue technique on biomass – fuels made out of timber and crops, often from abroad – anticipated by the top of June.

“Deeply worrying” however “nuanced”

Vitality coverage professor Rob Gross, who directs the UK Vitality Analysis Centre, known as it “shocking” if Drax has not but “nailed down the factors”.

“The premise on which Drax was transformed to bioenergy, and the idea on which it has been given authorities subsidies was that bioenergy is zero carbon, or at the least very low carbon, and might contribute in direction of our carbon targets and web zero”, he mentioned.

A spokesperson for Drax mentioned: “The science that underpins our strategy is difficult, nuanced and evolves, and we take our duty to proceed to develop our rationalization of it very severely.”

The advisory board “reaffirmed the significance of our ongoing work to broaden our use of science and proof in how we talk about our carbon accounting and biomass extra typically”, they added.

Final summer season Drax denied complaints to a UK authorities physique that its claims to carbon neutrality have been deceptive and breached OECD pointers.

Phil MacDonald, from power thinktank Ember, described the findings as “deeply worrying”.

He mentioned Drax has “had greater than a decade of operations to get its argument straight on why burning biomass is sweet for the local weather”.

If biomass weren’t carbon impartial, some emissions might must be added to the UK’s tally.

This prospect would probably be unattractive to the UK authorities, which is off target to fulfill its objectives to slash emissions and ultimately attain web zero by 2050.

‘Troublesome questions on biomass future’

The board’s suggestion “raises troublesome questions on the way forward for biomass past 2027” when subsidies expire, mentioned Dr Dan Quiggin, senior analysis fellow at thinktank Chatham Home.

Ministers are beneath strain to not renew subsidies for bioenergy mills amid some concern that burning wooden to generate electrical energy damages forests, soils and habitats, and should even improve carbon dioxide emissions.

The United Nations’ local weather scientists, the IPCC, mentioned bioenergy can result in a rise or lower in emissions, relying on how sustainably the fabric is sourced, transported and so forth.

Drax and the federal government say its operations comply with the strictest sustainability standards, and assesses its carbon affect utilizing agreed IPCC strategies.

“We will stay with out Drax as a result of we are able to stay with none particular person energy station,” mentioned Professor Gross. However whether or not we might need to is one other query, he mentioned, particularly because the UK reassesses its power safety.

“It is not reliant upon the fuel provides from different nations, and, in contrast to wind and photo voltaic, it is versatile. You’ll be able to flip it up, you possibly can flip it down, you possibly can flip it off.”

Drax has warned its operations might turn out to be unviable after 2027, except the federal government pledges additional subsidies to assist it develop bioenergy with carbon seize and storage (BECCS), which entails storing the emissions from the plant underground, so as to provide adverse emissions.

‘Stopping runaway local weather change tougher to realize’

The “regarding” half, in line with Dr Quiggin, is that if bioenergy isn’t carbon impartial to start out with, it reduces the affect of including on carbon seize and storage (CCS), as a result of a number of the carbon removals could be spent on offsetting these emissions.

“The carbon adverse emissions of BECCS sooner or later could possibly be decrease, and that may imply that assembly our local weather targets and stopping runaway local weather change is that a lot tougher to realize,” he mentioned.

The federal government’s local weather advisers, the CCC, says the UK will depend on adverse emissions, or carbon removals to fulfill local weather targets, as a result of some sectors like aviation could be unimaginable to rid of emissions.

A spokesperson for the Division for Vitality Safety and Web Zero mentioned: “The Authorities, with help from the Committee for Local weather Change, considers biomass a crucial renewable and low carbon power supply.

“It has helped to dramatically cut back the usage of fossil fuels and our publicity to unstable international fuel costs, and offered an extra supply of power to bolster our power safety.”

A Drax spokesperson added: “Biomass has a crucial function to play in supporting power safety because the world decarbonises, displacing fossil fuels with renewable, dispatchable energy.

“Drax is dedicated to making sure that the biomass we supply delivers optimistic outcomes for the local weather, nature and the communities wherein we function.”

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