Burning wood for power worse for climate than gas equivalent, report finds
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- Tim Searchinger led a Nature Sustainability study showing wood‑burning with carbon capture can emit twice as much CO₂ per unit energy as gas and requires 150 years to become carbon‑negative.
- Drax power station received nearly £1 bn in UK subsidies last year for burning wood, making it the country’s biggest single source of CO₂ emissions.
- Greenpeace UK urges an immediate halt to wood‑burning power, arguing that cutting trees for fuel undermines global carbon budgets.
- Natural Resources Defense Council says the UK is better off without BECCS and must pursue genuinely clean energy sources.
Why it matters: UK taxpayers lose £1 bn in subsidies while energy prices rise, and the UK’s carbon‑reduction targets slip as wood‑burning power adds emissions for decades, compromising the country’s ability to meet its 2030 net‑zero goal.
