Letter from Mark Langabeer (Hastings and Rye CLP) on the latest green-washing scandal. The full programme can be viewed here.
Panorama’s reporter, Joe Crowley, investigates Drax power station, Britain’s largest generator of electricity. 5% of electricity in the UK is supplied by this former coal-fired power station. Today, it’s powered by wood pellets. The company that runs Drax received over £6 billion in subsidies because it’s claimed that wood is from a renewable source.
According to experts in carbon emissions, wood pellets emit more CO2 than coal. They state that over 30 million tons of carbon dioxide is emitted annually by Drax. It’s not counted as part of CO2 emissions because of its alleged sustainable source. The problem with this view is that wood from primary forests will take decades to replace.
Primary forests
The company claimed that it only sourced wood and sawdust from waste left by the timber industry. Crowley had discovered documents that showed that only 11% of supplies were rotten wood. He travelled to British Colombia, in western Canada. Drax’s purchasing arm have bought land in what are described as primary forests. These are areas that absorb carbon dioxide and are needed to reduce the effects of global warming. 20% of wood used by Drax was supplied from Canada.
The company claimed that it hadn’t bought primary forest because it was near a main road. The rational for this claim remains unclear. Rules regarding primary forests don’t include the existence of roads or otherwise. This story is another example of green washing. Billions of £s have been given to companies in green subsidies, falsely presenting Britain as a world leader in the reduction of carbon emissions.
Public ownership of electricity supply is what we urgently need.
