Internal emails from UK bioenergy giant Drax show the company has repeatedly lied to UK regulators about logging old growth forests in British Columbia to make wood pellets. The revelations, revealed in a story today from the Financial Times, confirm the findings of a 2022 investigation by the BBC’s “Panorama,” which documented that Drax was sourcing whole trees from pristine forests. Drax repeatedly denied the evidence and sought to discredit the BBC’s investigators, even threatening legal action against the BBC, but they never followed through.
The new revelations come as Drax is aggressively seeking to expand its foothold in the US and Canada. In September, Drax announced the launch of a new US-based company, Elimini, to advance bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) projects, claiming that there were more than 20 potential BECCS sites currently under consideration in North America. BECCS is supposed to provide “negative emissions,” meaning it removes CO2 from the atmosphere, but despite the company’s claims, burning trees and storing the carbon belowground will not deliver CO2 removal. (For a more detailed explanation of why BECCS is a climate con, see here).
Drax is also investing heavily in wood pellet manufacturing in the US and Canada as part of its goal to double its global wood pellet sales by 2030. Drax has already run into trouble with several of its US-based facilities. Drax has been fined for repeated air pollution violations at its pellet manufacturing plant in Gloster, Mississippi and for beginning construction on a proposed wood pellet facility in Longview, Washington without the proper permits.
Now Drax has California clearly in its sights. Earlier this year, Drax signed a memorandum of understanding with Golden State Natural Resources to potentially finance and operate two massive wood pellet plants in Tuolomne and Lassen counties. PFPI and a coalition of groups have raised significant concerns about the impact of this proposal on forests and surrounding communities, especially the residents near the proposed pellet storage and export facility in Stockton. After multiple delays, the project’s draft environmental impact report is expected to be released on October 22, followed by a 60-day public comment period.
The UK has sunk billions into subsidies for Drax, even as it’s been clear for years that the company is demonstrably misleading regulators and the public on the types of wood it uses and the climate “benefits” of bioenergy and BECCS. US policymakers need to wake up before they make the same mistake.
