Burning wood for power worse for climate than gas equivalent, report finds Research casts doubt on plans by UK government to offer subsidies for carbon capture attached to the power source

New research in @nature.com concludes that burning trees and capturing the carbon doesn't give you any "negative emissions".

Cutting down the forests actually means less CO2 absorbed.

Confirms finding of previous NRDC study: www.nrdc.org/sites/defaul...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Shut Down Drax: How We Can Stand with US Communities In 2025, Drax Power Station (the UK's single largest carbon emitter) received £2.5 million a day in public subsidies taken from bill payers in the UK. Drax's harm is not limited to forests or our clim...

*Shut Down Drax: How We Can Stand with US Communities*

actionnetwork.org/events/shut-...

27 April 2026, 6.30pm
St Anne’s Church, 55 Dean Street, W1D 6AF

A key solution to climate change isn't happening – and that's good Removing CO2 from the atmosphere by capturing the carbon from burning biomass is supposed to save the planet, but it looks like the flagship project will never happen

A key "solution" to climate change isn't happening - and that's a good thing. Piece in @newscientist.com.

#CutCarbonNotForests

www.newscientist.com/article/2522...

Microsoft Hits Pause on All Carbon Removal Purchases: A Major Shift in Corporate Climate Strategy Microsoft pauses carbon removal purchases, shaking carbon markets and raising new questions on cost, scale, and net-zero credibility.

Microsoft has paused all investment in carbon capture projects.

carboncredits.com/microsoft-hi...

#CutCarbonNotForest

The US South's future lies in its forests, not in data centres.

By @dannasmith.bsky.social of @dogwoodalliance.org

www.commondreams.org/opinion/fore...

#CutCarbonNotForests

A number of scientists have written to the world's leading scientific body on climate change.

They're warning that the way emissions are counted from burning trees for electricity is majorly flawed. It's harming the climate and forests.
scienceonbiomass.org

#CutCarbonNotForests

🔮 The case for radical solar optimism While politics is powerful, the laws of physics will always win

The cost of solar has fallen MUCH faster than experts predicted.

This is great news for the climate and access to clean, cheap energy.

Biomass can NEVER do this - its main cost is the wood it burns.

www.exponentialview.co/p/solar-supe...

#CutCarbonNotForests

Europe gets ‘green energy.’ These Southern towns get dirty air. In Louisiana and Mississippi, people living near mills producing wood pellets say that they’re getting sick.

"t’s about what Drax is putting into the air. Now people are making a ruckus. People are starting to open their eyes."

@grist.org #CutCarbonNotForests

grist.org/energy/europ...

Keeping an eye on the forest biomass export industry - Stand.earth Late last year, we released a new investigation into the Canadian sourcing practices of international energy giant Drax, which produces wood pellets in British Columbia (B.C.) to export overseas. The ...

"with our latest investigation into the forest biomass export industry, we see what some might prefer remain hidden – old growth logs purchased by Drax." @stand.earth #CutCarbonNotForests

stand.earth/insights/kee...

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I’m sick of your lies
and your pollution, too. 💔

“Valentine’s Day is supposed to be for love for the heart, but mine is filled with congestion from the pollution in Gloster.”
– Carmella Causey

#biomass #CutCarbonNotForests

A Drax Manager question why the company was ruling out sourcing from primary and old growth forests in Canada.

www.ft.com/content/6913...

#CutCarbonNotForests

We could produce a lot of electricity on the land used for biofuels About enough to meet current global electricity demand.

There are many more land-efficient ways to produce #energy than growing #biofuels. Crops convert less than 1% of sunlight into biomass; #solarpanels convert around 20%. And using #electricity is more efficient than using liquid fuels: hannahritchie.substack.com/p/biofuels-v... #landuse #biomass

Are Wood Pellets Worth Billions In Subsidies? Drax Faces A Reckoning Policymakers are rethinking biomass as new research shows wood pellets may increase carbon emissions rather than reduce them. The focus is now on subsidies.

Burning wood pellets for power receives billions in subsidies, but according to scientists, it may not be clean energy. Companies like Drax are clear-cutting forests and trees for energy and harming communities in the process. www.forbes.com/sites/kensil...

TFW the dirtiest energy technology takes all the low-carbon subsidies.

Dirty biomass burning. Forest destruction.

#CutCarbonNotForests

Drax hit as Japan pivots away from burning wood pellets for energy Phaseout of generous subsidies threatens profitability of new projects

Drax prospects hit as Japan turns away from biomass.

#CutCarbonNotForests

www.ft.com/content/aef8...

A BECCS project at BECCS could need £30 billion in subsidies

#CutCarbonNotForests

ember-energy.org/app/uploads/...

‘Everything is worse since Drax came here’: US residents say wood-pellet plant harming their town Residents of Gloster, Mississippi, are suing plant that exports wood pellets to UK and Europe. Company says it is reducing emissions

Residents of Gloster, Mississippi say Drax - UK biomass burner - is harming their health.

#CutCarbonNotForests

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Carbon capture was spruiked as a way of limiting our emissions – but has Australia been greenwashed? Despite billions in investment, carbon capture and storage technology ‘should be in no way treated as a climate solution’, critics say

“The results are obviously underwhelming. It just calls into question the viability of all CCS projects at scale,”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#CutCarbonNotForests

Foreign Energy Companies Have No Home in Our Forests | Opinion Domestic air-quality policy should reduce, not worsen, pollution for the very people it is meant to protect.

Foreign (UK) energy companies are harming forests and communities in the US.

www.newsweek.com/foreign-ener...

#CutCarbonNotForests

New data from Ember shows that the cost of BECCS at Drax would be more than the UK's entire budget for carbon capture.

#CutCarbonNotForests

ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

2024 Biomass Projection Long YouTube video by Matt Adam Williams

The UK Government is paying Drax to make climate change worse.

#CutCarbonNotForests

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-UB...

Drax carbon removal project could exceed entire carbon capture budget - Energy Live News Drax’s BECCS project may cost £30 billion in subsidies, exceeding the UK’s full carbon capture budget

A carbon capture project at Drax would blow the UK's entire carbon capture budget, and then some.

As the Chancellor is delivering her Budget, can the UK really afford £30 billion on Drax's tree burning?

www.energylivenews.com/2025/11/26/d...

#CutCarbonNotForests

Wood pellet power is under the microscope like never before Pressure on the biomass sector is mounting in the UK, South Korea, Japan, and the US.

Woody biomass power is under scrutiny like never before.

www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

#CutCarbonNotForests

Holzenergie laut UBA nicht klimaneutral – Branchenverband fassungslos Das Umweltbundesamt spricht der Holzenergie-Nutzung die Nachhaltigkeit und Klimaneutralität ab. Der Fachverband Holzenergie ist alarmiert und auf 180.

To translate: German Government Environment Agency says burning wood biomass *IS NOT* carbon neutral.

"electricity and heat from wood cannot be classified without restriction as renewable energy within the meaning of the Paris climate targets"

www.topagrar.com/energie/news...

Drax Power Station is *STILL* burning 250-year old trees from forests in Canada, reveals @stand.earth

stand.earth/forest-eye/2...

#CutCarbonNotForests

The Forests Burning to Keep Asia's Lights On YouTube video by Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC)

Biomass isn't just a problem in the UK.

Here's what burning trees in power stations is doing to forests in Indonesia. 🔥🌳

Awful impacts. Brilliant video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD_J...

#CutCarbonNotForests

Today a new report is published showing that just 5 economies spent nearly $250 billion on biomass subsidies over 22 years.

environmentalpaper.org/wp-content/u...

It’s time to Cut Subsidies, Not Forests and to #CutCarbonNotForests #BigBadBiomass

It’s time to STOP subsidising #BigBadBiomass that is destroying forests, polluting people’s air, and making climate change worse.

Cut Subsidies, Not Forests!

#CutCarbonNotForests #BigBadBiomass

MDEQ should uphold Gloster air quality decision MDEQ to hear appeal of decision on Drax plant in Gloster.

Residents of Gloster, Mississippi are calling for an end to Drax’s pollution of their air.

tinyurl.com/3nvbhjax

#BigBadBiomass #CutCarbonNotForests