The UK government has approved a £2 billion (around $2.5 billion) project to create a “carbon negative” wood-burning power plant in Yorkshire, northern England, run by Drax. The project involves adding carbon capture units to two generators that burn biomass, mostly wood pellets imported from North America.
Drax claims that this technology, called BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), will allow it to remove more carbon pollution from the atmosphere than it produces by burning the biomass.
However, the project has been heavily criticised by some climate experts and scientists, who argue that BECCS is an unproven and costly technology that may not be effective in mitigating climate change and may even worsen it.
Burning biomass releases carbon pollution that takes decades to be reabsorbed by new trees and plants, which may not be enough to offset the emissions. Sourcing wood from mature forests may damage the ecosystems and biodiversity of those forests, and reduce their ability to store carbon.
The carbon capture and storage process is not 100% efficient and may leak carbon back into the atmosphere.
Drax is also under investigation by the UK energy regulator Ofgem for allegedly breaching sustainability requirements in relation to the wood pellets it burns.
