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‘Carbon capture’ subsidy could let power station keep polluting atmosphere

Drax, Britain’s biggest power station, is in line for £31bn of green cash that may do little to curb emissions

By Ben Webster
‘Carbon capture’ subsidy could let power station keep polluting atmosphere
Drax Power Station, with Eggborough in the distance, North Yorkshire, UK. Under the funding mechanism proposed by the government for a controversial new 'bioenergy with carbon capture and storage' deal, the power station could receive a public subsidy worth billions even if it releases much of its carbon emissions into the air | Paul White - UK Industries / Alamy Stock Photo
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The owner of Britain’s biggest power station could receive billions of pounds in green subsidies for a flagship ‘carbon capture’ project even if much of the carbon ends up being released into the atmosphere, openDemocracy can reveal.

Drax’s project at its North Yorkshire power station is supposed to remove CO2 from the atmosphere by burning wood, capturing the carbon and storing it under the North Sea.

But under the funding mechanism proposed by the government, Drax could still claim subsidies for burning wood to generate power even if the carbon capture part of the project fails to work as promised.

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