Biomass: How It Gives a 180 Degree Shift to UK's Dirtiest Power Plant

A polluting power plant in Yorkshire, England had undergone an almost 180-degree turn as it switched to renewable energy.

About eight years ago, the Drax Power Station is emitting millions of tons of carbon dioxide yearly through coal combustion. But time has changed after it converted four of its six coal-based units to biomass.

The government helped to make this possible by giving subsidies. Last year, they endowed financial support worth $1 billion to Drax.

According to the owners, the plant produces at least 15 percent of the country's renewable power. And they are not stopping yet, as they plan to transform the plant into a fully environment-friendly power station.

Is Biomass Safe to the Environment?

The wood pellets that Dax group use as biomass are usually made from sawmill residue, and low-grade or rejected trees from the United States.

According to Will Gardner, CEO of the Dax Group, using woods that have no value for construction or furniture is cost-efficient as it will make forest replanting more affordable. Then, these new trees will absorb the emission coming from the biomass plant.

But the scientists questions the "environmental friendliness" of biomass.

According to John Sternman, a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, wood pellets emit more carbon than coal, and it will take at least a decade before the carbon can be absorbed by new trees.

Carbon Capturing Technology?

The Drax group claimed that they are developing a technology that will absorb and store the carbon that the biomass plants emit. But it might take at least 10 years to finish.

Currently, the station's technology is only capable of capturing one metric ton of carbon per day. Gardner claimed that they are working to expand it to 10,000 metric tons per day by mid to late 2020s.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in 2018 report that the carbon-capturing technology has good potential and quite considerable, but thinks that the success will still depend upon the capability to finance this project and whether the risks like potential CO2 pipeline leakage or damage will be managed efficiently.

But the report also noted that this technology is still "unproven" and possibly dangerous to rely on.

The United Kingdom has invested in this technology by consulting on a market-based industrial carbon capture framework. As of June, about $33 million worth of funds were already endowed for this project. The government believed that this technology is a crucial key piece to achieve the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal in 30 years.