Environmental groups urge end to biomass subsidies

In a letter addressed to cabinet members Ed Miliband (energy), David Lammy (foreign secretary), and Steve Reed (Defra), the group urged the government to end the practice in 2027 when the current subsidy scheme finishes. According to the signatories, continued subsidies for biomass risk damaging the UK’s reputation as a leader on climate action.

Drax, the UK’s largest biomass power station, has received around £7bn in government subsidies since 2012. While Drax says the wood it burns is carbon neutral having sequestered CO2 during its growth, this claim is now widely disputed. A report published in August 2024 by climate thinktank Ember found that Drax was Britain’s largest carbon emitter last year. Biomass burnt at the Yorkshire power station in 2023 released 11.5m tonnes of CO2, accounting for around three per cent of all UK carbon emissions. The same month saw Drax hit with a £25m fine for misreporting the power station's sustainability data. 

Biomass is now increasingly viewed as a dirty fuel in the UK, its carbon footprint exacerbated by importing wood pellets from around the world, often from old growth forests. In 2023, the UK imported six million tonnes of wood pellets for biomass power from forests in the US, Canada and Europe.

‘'There is nothing green or sustainable about burning trees in UK power stations like Drax and Lynemouth,” said Sally Clark, campaigner for Biofuelwatch.

“It is shocking that the government is considering wasting even more of bill payers' money on new subsidies for Drax’s and Lynemouth's forest destruction, pollution of communities and climate-wrecking emissions.

Continued support for biomass beyond 2027 was being considered via a consultation launched by the previous government. The signatories of the letter claim that any funding would be better spent on energy efficiency measures such as home insulation, plus the continued roll out of renewable energy. 

“This money could be invested in climate solutions such as ramping up homegrown renewables and an insulation scheme to fix our heat-leaking homes, to bring down our bills and emissions, while generating thousands of green jobs,” said Jamie Peters, interim CEO at Friends of the Earth.

“Drax Power Station in Yorkshire is the UK's single biggest carbon emitter and is being propped up by huge amounts of public money. It can’t be right that the thousands of people facing another winter of unaffordable energy bills are helping to subsidise this inefficient and harmful polluter that relies on cutting down the US and Canada's forests and greenwashing its activities.”