There’s change in the air at Drax

Biomass can come from specially grown energy crops such as miscanthus (a tall grass), oil palms, willow and poplar trees or from bio-wastes such as sewage sludge or the mush left when olives are crushed to make olive oil. Drax is proposing to “co-fire” these biomass fuels with coal. To meet its 10 per cent target, it will require an estimated 1.5 million tons of biomass each year, says Thompson.

The two types of biomass reduce carbon emissions in different ways. Energy crops remove as much carbon from the atmosphere while they’re growing as they release when they’re burnt, so their net contribution to atmospheric carbon is zero. Bio-wastes release their carbon into the air anyway when they biodegrade, so burning them instead produces extra energy at no extra carbon cost.

independent