In
the Energy Bill going through Parliament there is allowance for generous
subsidy for a huge push towards burning wood to produce electricity. It’s
already happening. Drax power station in Yorkshire has converted one of its
boilers to burn wood pellets instead of coal; soon three of its six boilers
will be doing this and the power station will then be receiving north of half a
billion pounds a year in subsidy. By 2020, the Government estimates, up to 11
per cent of our generating capacity will be from burning wood. This is a really
bad idea. It will cost a fortune, worsen air pollution, exacerbate dependency
on foreign energy and increase greenhouse gas emissions compared with burning
gas and maybe even with burning coal. All these are in direct contradiction of
the Energy Bill’s ostensible purpose. Yet “biomass” is trumpeted as a key part of
the Government’s strategy to keep the lights on and combat climate change.
--Matt Ridley, The Times, 20 June 2013
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