Largest Biomass Plant In World Goes Online Later This Year In UK

Biomass is perhaps the most controversial of the clean energy platforms. This isn’t stopping the largest biomass plant in the world from going online later this year in the UK.

The plant is owned by the Drax Group and is located outside the village of Drax. Its is about 150 miles north of London and is in a valley where the majority of energy production occurs for the kingdom.

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There is some serious irony to the new biomass plant. This is because the plant isn’t new at all. Instead, it is the biggest coal burning power plant in the country. It is also facing huge emissions penalties for producing massive amounts of carbon dioxide when burning the coal in question. Given this, the Drax Group new they had to do something to address the cost problem and biomass was their answer.

The plant is being retrofitted to include a large biomass processer. The processor will burn everything from wood chips to bales of elephant grass. The biomass energy will make up 12.5 percent of the energy produced by the plant, which is another way of saying that coal will still make up the vast majority of the energy production. Still, the biomass in question will produce 20 percent of the emissions of burning coal, which is a positive development.

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The turn to biomass energy by Drax is certainly a positive, but is it a cure to “what ails us?” Biomass is controversial because it is not really a clean energy. It produces pollutants and emissions. While it is better than coal by a long shot, it is not the cure all that many describe it to be.

A coal plant converting to at least a partial biomass energy platform is a good thing. Is it a great thing? No, not really.

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