Time to #AxeDrax

In a major blow, the energy company Drax received approval from the UK Government on Tuesday to fit carbon capture technology to its wood-burning power plant; a project that could cost the public over £40bn (Ambrose, 2024).

The energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, was behind the approval of the project, which is claimed to help the energy sector achieve net zero carbon emissions (Ambrose, 2024).

The move is a sure fire sign that the Government sees the controversial Drax power station as here to stay. So what’s the big deal over Drax and why are so many environmentalists against it? Isn’t net zero a good thing?

One thing that is agreed on is, yes, carbon emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 as a minimum for any chance of preventing the worst effects of climate breakdown. This means that by 2050, the amount of carbon emitted in the UK must be balanced or outweighed by the amount of carbon absorbed through actions that remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as nature restoration (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2021). Although, the date of 2050 is disputed, with many saying that achieving net zero after beyond 2035 is too late for the most vulnerable populations and low-lying nation states like the Seychelles (Trent, 2021).

Putting dates to one side however, the issue remains over how the Government plans to achieve net zero. On closer scrutiny, we find that Drax and its carbon capture technologies may actually be doing more harm than good.

To begin with, let’s look at how Drax claims to be climate friendly by burning wood. Unlike fossil fuels, burning wood is believed to have no immediate impact on the climate, since carbon absorbed by a tree during its lifetime should equate to the carbon emitted when burned. This means that emissions from the power station are not included in the UK’s reported emissions (Office for National Statistics, 2019).

Yet, the Drax power plant is the UK’s single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (Harrison and Fox, 2023). Moreover, it may be increasing the risk of climate change relative to fossil fuels, as larger quantities of fuel need to be burned to achieve the same amount of power (Thunberg, 2022).

Shipping emissions derived from the 80% of wood pellets that Drax imports from the US are also unaccounted for (Carrington, 2022). Neither is the loss of trees from primary forests linked to Drax. Therefore, real efforts to decarbonise require closing Drax and investing in truly renewable technologies such as solar and wind (Ambrose, 2021).

To add to this travesty, carbon capture technologies remain unproven (Tsui, 2023) with the majority of active carbon capture and storage projects underperforming (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, 2022). Scientists instead assert that cancelling new oil and gas fields is a much safer way to align with net zero (Harvey, 2023). Consequently, carbon capture technology merely acts as a “social licence”(UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Community, 2024) for climate wrecking activities to continue.

Drax, both with and without carbon capture, is a step in the wrong direction.

Rather, what we need is an energy transition towards 100% proven renewable energy sources. This is not just right for the climate, but also job security. Authors from Robert Gorden University in Aberdeen found that there is a ‘goldilocks zone’ between 2024 and 2028 in which oil & gas activities should rapidly decline. Investment and activity in renewables within UK supply chain capacity and capability during this period would optimise transferability of the offshore energy workforce by bringing the supply and demand for new jobs into relatively close alignment (Energy Transition Institute, 2023).

However if investment does not occur, 15% of the workforce could be lost, representing 130,000 jobs. This not only poses a loss of income for households, but also a loss of skills for the future energy sector. The next 5 years will therefore be crucial in determining the number of livelihoods sustained in the UK, as well as the potential for the UK to be a leader in the renewables sector (Energy Transition Institute, 2023).

The just transition must also provide jobs for Drax employees living in and around Selby. Alternative forms of employment could come from true, local renewable energy solutions. For instance, there are plans to turn 758 hectares of land near Selby into a solar farm (Cooper, 2022).

One unique possibility of employment could utilise Selby’s mining heritage. Research is currently exploring whether water trapped in flooded mineshafts could fuel a ground-source heating network (Our Zero Selby, 2021). Examples are already evidenced to work in towns such as Gateshead (Lane, 2021). If proven, it could provide Selby with a unique, local and low-carbon solution to heating and employment, in turn making the community more resilient to external economic shocks in energy prices.

Re- and upskilling centres should also be set up, with examples already found in Aberdeen. This will require investment in several Just Transition Funds, supporting local policies and facilities. To ensure the transition is inclusive and effective, plans should be developed in collaboration with workers, especially those from marginalised backgrounds (Energy Transition Institute, 2023).

However, Drax is set to receive over £11bn in government subsidies through until 2027 (MacDonald, 2022). To put this into perspective, Drax received £1.7m in subsidies a day in 2022 (Ambrose, 2023). Funds are therefore already available to support significant investment in a truly just transition, and must be done with urgent effect to maximise benefits.

Let’s not forget, at a press conference just last week, PM Rishi Sunak attacked Labour’s “green spending spree” (Sunak, quoted in Sparrow, 2024), saying that it would raise people’s taxes. Meanwhile, his Government is pedalling through major oil and gas projects that not only obliterate any chance of securing climate justice, but are paid from the pockets of taxpayers. The UK public alone will effectively pay 91% of the recently approved Rosebank oil and gas field through subsidies and tax breaks for developers (Greenpeace, 2023).

Instead of paying over 300,000 nursing salaries, Sunak awarded oil and gas companies with £12 bn in tax breaks

Image source: Stop Cambo and Monbiot, 2024.

Oil and gas companies are the recipients of £11.9 billion in tax relief under the windfall tax. Meanwhile children, nurses, doctors, refugees, asylum seekers and leaky homes are left neglected by the system (Stop Cambo and Monbiot, 2024). We live in damaging times.

This money, these billions of pounds worth of funds, should be supporting our communities and securing a just transition to a renewable energy system for all. Instead of looking at the wider picture, our Government is channelling funds to a handful of CEOs profiting off the back of climate destruction, fuel poverty and a cost of living crisis triggered by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

And now, the Government is actively choosing to ignore the science and fund another greenwashing project at Drax.

Yet again the Government is ignoring the people. I cannot go on without highlighting parallels with the war on Gaza. Just like their support for a few beneficiaries at the cost of many on the frontlines of the climate crisis, the Government has chosen a violent, utterly brutal path in supporting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. The Government is being complicit, sugar-coated actions with a rhetoric of peace and is refusing to turn around.

The fight for climate justice, the fight for human rights and the fight to liberate Palestine are one and the same. For more on this, see how Barclays bank invests over £1 billion in companies arming Israel in its war against Palestinians (Palestine Solidarity Campaign, 2023), as well as pouring billions into the oil and gas firm, Shell (Fossil Free London, 2023).

So what happens now?

The Government may think they are safe to do what they like until the next general election, but they still work for us. No matter how blindfolded and side-tracked they become, we must still hold our MPs to account.

The routes to justice can seem long and wearisome in our current system, but small steps can be made. There are template letters for writing to your MP against the war on Gaza the Rosebank oil and gas field and subsidies for Drax. You could even join a welcome call with the Stop Burning Trees coalition to get a taste of their MP Outreach Working Group.

Individually, one voice may seem small but cumulatively, we will be heard.

H _ M

Bibliography: 

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