Allegations relating to employee safety at power plant sparks renewed criticism from environmentalists<\/p>\n
Last modified on Thu 2 Sep 2021 09.56 EDT<\/p>\n
The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire faces a criminal prosecution hearing after allegations that dust from wood pellets used to generate electricity could pose a risk to its employees\u2019 health.<\/p>\n
The company has earned hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies by upgrading its generating units to burn biomass pellets instead of coal, but the Health and Safety Executive has raised concerns that the wood dust may have threatened employee health.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Drax will appear at Leeds magistrates court on 30 November to face the allegations as well as a separate charge that it breached risk assessment obligations before allowing employees to work with potentially \u201chazardous substances\u201d at the plant.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the company confirmed it had received notice of legal action from the HSE in relation to wood dust at the power station but said it could not comment further as it was an ongoing legal issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is a priority for Drax,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
The charges, which first reported by Sky News, have reignited criticism of Drax\u2019 biomass strategy from environmentalists, who say burning wood pellets risks wasting multimillion pound subsidies and fuelling the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
Drax received subsidies \u2013 which are levied on energy bills \u2013 totalling \u00a3790m in 2019 and \u00a3832m in 2020, according to analysis by climate thinktank Ember.<\/p>\n
Phil MacDonald, Ember\u2019s chief operating officer, told Sky News: \u201cI very much hope that the health of workers has not been ignored as the UK has embraced biomass as a climate-friendly electricity source.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK government needs to fundamentally reassess the costs and benefits of the technology before releasing new subsidies to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drax has defended its decision to replace coal with wood pellets in the past by claiming that biomass energy is carbon neutral because the emissions released are offset by biomass forests, which absorb carbon dioxide in order to grow. It plans to use carbon capture technology at its power plant to create \u201ccarbon negative\u201d electricity in the future.<\/p>\n
The claims are disputed by campaigners and climate scientists who have warned that forests cannot be replaced quickly enough to absorb the amount of carbon emissions needed to slow the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
MacDonald said: \u201cLooking at the bigger picture, the UK still treats burning wood in power stations as if it were carbon neutral, despite recent science demonstrating this is unlikely to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n