Drax Takes Ancient Trees From Near My Carolina Home and Burns Them 4,000 Miles Away. This Greenwashing Scandal Utterly Shames Britain
The vast Drax power plant in Yorkshire is at the heart of the most egregious environmental scandal, the Big Lie of British energy policy, writes Louis Bacon. © Getty Images
There will be plenty of backslapping among the highly paid executives of Drax, Britain’s biggest power station, at today’s AGM held in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Some of the biggest fund managers in the City will also be there, celebrating how Drax’s record £1.1billion profits have benefited them.
You might expect me, a fellow fund manager, to toast the occasion. But I will not be joining in. For the vast Drax power plant in Yorkshire is at the heart of the most egregious environmental scandal, the Big Lie of British energy policy.
Why? Drax used to be a coal power station. But it switched from burning coal to burning wood pellets – the most dirty and primitive source of energy.
Supposedly, this produces renewable electricity and eliminates carbon emissions even though the carbon footprint here is up to twice that of coal, according to scientists, when transportation and production of pellets is taken into account.
A grotesque sham because, incredibly, none of Drax’s increased carbon emissions are included in Britain’s accounts. They are deemed to be emitted in North America – even though the wood is burnt in Yorkshire.
On top of that accounting sleight of hand, there is the pretence that trees chopped down instantly regrow and are therefore renewable. In truth, this takes decades – decades our climate cannot wait. It is hideously expensive, and one reason why, as Tony Blair put it on Tuesday, current UK energy policy is ‘doomed to fail’. 05-01-25
