Phylo
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Time to end the biomass scam: Drax, Britain's largest carbon emitter, received £1bn in subsidies last year - £2.7m a day and more than £100k an hour, which we all pay for
Households handed over a record amount of nearly £1bn in public subsidies to Drax last year, the UK's largest carbon emitter, analysis shows.The controversial biomass power station receives 'overly generous' payments of £2.7million a day and more than £100,000 an hour, energy think tank Ember found.
It has been the UK's biggest emitter for the past ten years and – despite its subsidies falling from next year – is expected to remain the biggest emitter until at least 2030.
Drax received a record £999million in Government subsidies – paid for through consumer bills – last year despite claims that it uses wood from virgin forests.
Incredibly, the energy is classed as renewable because the wood pellets it uses are from forests where trees are cut down and new trees are planted.
In April 2026, Drax power station entered the final twelve months of high subsidy payments under the current scheme, the think tank said.
From 2027, the subsidy available will be roughly halved to around £460million per year, beginning its phase-out, energy think tank Ember said.
However, the scale of biomass burning all but guarantees Drax will continue to be the UK's largest emitter until the end of the decade, it added.
Time to end the biomass scam: Drax received £1bn in subsidies
The controversial biomass power station receives 'overly generous' payments of £2.7million a day and more than £100,000 an hour, energy think tank Ember found.