Drax power station, at 3960 Mega Watts, is the largest electricity generator in the UK. It has converted three out of six generating sets to use biomass. Its website claims 70% of the electricity comes from compressed wood pellets. The conversion was intended to cut the amount of pollution, particularly from Sulphur Di-Oxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) released into the atmosphere. Our MP Nigel Adams has long championed biomass at Drax (see HERE Col 616WH) and fought against wind turbines.
NOX emissions have been cut by 53% according to Drax's annual 2016 report (HERE page 17). However, what many people will be unaware of is a quadrupling in the amount of particulate matter released when burning wood.
NOX emissions have been cut by 53% according to Drax's annual 2016 report (HERE page 17). However, what many people will be unaware of is a quadrupling in the amount of particulate matter released when burning wood.
You might recognise this particulate matter, known as PM10 because of its 10 microns and below size range, as one of the problems highlighted in the recent and ongoing scandal with diesel cars, which are also a source of the same stuff. These fine particles find their way into the lungs, causing inflammation and increasing the risk of heart and lung disease. The Government's own 2007 Air Quality Strategy estimates that particulate matter reduces life expectancy by around seven to eight months, averaged over the whole population of the UK.
Reported data for Large Combustion Plants throughout Europe shows Drax alone emitted 949 tonnes of "dust" in 2014 (HERE - download the LCP_Extract as an excel table in a zip file - search for "Drax") but doesn't give the size range. Note these figures for dust have more than doubled since 2009. The Environment Agency (HERE) shows 797 tonnes specifically of PM10s emitted by Drax in 2012, the last year for which figures are available on their website and they indicate in 2007 the figures was 268 tonnes. The latest figure from Drax's own annual report (page 43) says 1000 tonnes of "dust" is now being released but is only a "slight" increase from 2015 without comparing earlier years. In fact it seems it is a near quadrupling since 2007 of these PM10s.
Now, let's look at diesel cars. From the DEFRA website you can see (HERE) that the total amount of PM10s thought to have been released by all 10 million diesel powered cars in the UK in 2014 was about 3140 tonnes, just about three times more than Drax is emitting on its own!
You can see therefore that Drax is emitting annually the equivalent amount of PM10s to that of about three million diesel cars but is rather coy about it for obvious reasons.
To make matters worse, the government is subsidising Drax to the tune of £541 million per year according to Biofuelwatch (HERE) to burn wood pellets that produce masses of PM10s. Meanwhile, there are proposals to pay owners of diesel cars to scrap them in order to stop producing PM10s. What a ridiculous position.
