Today is the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀, a day to celebrate and work to protect the UK’s and the world’s forests.
Residents and community members will know of my longstanding support to restore the wonderous biodiversity in our kelp forest along the Sussex Bay. Championed by Sir David Attenborough, Help Our Kelp gained huge public support across Worthing and Arun and on 18 March 2021, trawling was prohibited from 304 km2 of the Sussex coast - setting in stone the necessary protection to enable our kelp forest to thrive.
Forests on land and in water all play a critical role in absorbing and storing carbon, providing a home for wildlife, and protecting people against climate impacts like flooding and coastal erosion. Nearly 80% of our planet’s biodiversity is packed in forested areas, which account for just 30% of global surface area.
And yet, Governments around the world are spending billions funding bioenergy power plants to cut down the world’s forests and burn them in power stations. Likewise, climate change threatens the existence of our kelp forests and the biodiversity of our coastal areas.
Drax Power Station is the UK’s single biggest carbon emitter and the world’s biggest burner of trees, sourcing from vital, biodiverse forests around the world. Drax has repeatedly been exposed for logging and sourcing from rare, primary old-growth forests in British Columbia (western-Canada).
Previously, Governments and experts may have understood burning biomass to be fully renewable and a net gain for our environment. More recent scientific research has proven this to be far from the case.
On International Day of Forests, I submitted a letter on behalf of colleagues from across the House of Commons to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, calling for an urgent meeting to discuss a way forward and seek an end to the subsidies that have locked our nation into burning fresh tree growth which has failed to reach its full carbon capture potential.
An even bigger letter to the Prime Minister will follow soon.
Generating electricity from burning trees is no better than burning coal in terms of emissions; continuing subsidies for wood biomass is actively contributing to the climate crisis that is leaving a planet devoid of life and greenery for future generations to deal with.
The text of the letter sent to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net-Zero can be read below:
Dear Secretary of State,
Cross-Party Delegation Request for a meeting to discuss Biomass and Potential New Subsidies.
I am writing see if you would be willing to meet me, alongside a number of cross-party Parliamentarians to discuss biomass and proposed future subsidies.
Biomass and Biomass with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) has come under repeated scrutiny and emits more carbon than coal over the timeframes necessary to meet the governments climate commitments.
Burning trees pumps huge quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere harming our forests and our communities, and the subsidies place an extra burden on low-income families.
We are deeply concerned about the Government’s continual labelling of wood burning power stations as a renewable, and so heavily subsidised, energy source and therefore have serious concerns about the recent consultation to extend these subsides beyond 2027 with BECCS.
The proposals set are effectively an extension of subsidies for Drax’s and other companies’ existing operations.
While the ‘transitional’ subsidies are supposed to be temporary, until carbon capture technology is available, there is no end-date for the subsidies and no binding obligation for generators to develop BECCS.
We are concerned the new subsidies could potentially be indefinite whilst, at the same time, BECCS is still very much an unproven technology; it has not been demonstrated anywhere at scale; is unlikely to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and would be extremely costly.
This consultation is also in direct contradiction with the Climate Change Committee’s advice which recommended that there should be no new subsidies for unabated wood biomass burning. It undermines public confidence in the Government’s work to get us to Net Zero.
We also share concern regarding the Government’s need to consult on such an important matter now when current subsides are due to run until 2027. We still await the review of Biomass Sustainability and Greenhouse Gas Standards, Ofgem’s investigation into Drax’s sourcing and for the Public Audit Committee to consider the findings of the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report.
Under current proposals, allowing parties who are “eligible for transitional support” to contact DESNZ “by 31st March 2024”, just one month after the consultation closes, we are concerned that the Government may award subsidies before any of the above investigations have been completed and recommendations met.
We believe that there is plenty of time for the Government to withdraw the consultation until the above investigations and reviews have been finalised and all options have been credibly costed.
The Impact Assessment suggests that the highest likely amount of costs per year could be £2.5 billion, which is about 2.5 times what Drax has received in their highest subsidised year. This could leave a big hole in the remaining budget for a ‘green energy’ transition.
These are just a number of issues surrounding the consultation we would like to discuss with you and we would be delighted if you would sit down with a small group of us to discuss your wider views regarding Government policy on biomass and BECCS.
As you will be aware, the consultation comes at a critical time; any extension of subsidies would have far-reaching ramifications and all when there is still so much controversy as to whether Biomass can ever be considered a green form of energy.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Your Sincerely
Sir Peter Bottomley
With:
Diane Abbott MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Baroness Boycott
Paul Blomfield MP
Allan Brown MP
Richard Burgon MP
Ian Byrne MP
Wendy Chamberlain MP
Daisy Cooper MP
Martyn Day MP
Allan Dorans MP
Barry Gardiner MP
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville
Wera Hobhouse MP
Kim Johnson MP
David Jones MP
Ben Lake MP
Pauline Latham MP
Lord Randall
Caroline Lucas MP
Stuart McDonald MP
John McNally MP
Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP
Baroness Young of Old Scone
Selaine Saxby MP
Virendra Sharma MP
Alex Sobel MP
Gary Streeter MP
Graham Stringer MP
Michael Whitley MP
Mohammad Yasin MP
Lord Zac Goldsmith
