Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner, said:
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner
“Urgent action has to be taken to address the climate crisis and we are pleased the UK government is demonstrating climate leadership in its ambitions to deliver policies which will attract the private sector investment needed for more green technologies to be deployed, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
“With the right business model from the government, Drax is ready to invest £2bn in BECCS and could deliver the world’s largest carbon capture project here in the UK, permanently removing eight million of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year by 2030. With sustainable biomass and BECCS we can kickstart a whole new sector of the economy, creating and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the North, as well as stimulating an export market and supporting the UK’s net zero target.
“We look forward to working with the government to ensure the most sustainable biomass feedstocks are used in our BECCS project.”
Background:
- Work to build BECCS at Drax could get underway as soon as 2024, with the first BECCS unit operational in 2027 and a second in 2030.
- Analysis has shown that the deployment of BECCS at Drax will save the UK £13bn in meeting its climate targets over the coming decade.
- Drax aims to source 80% of the construction materials and services needed for its BECCS project from British businesses, creating millions of pounds worth of contracts, as well as tens of thousands of jobs.
- Drax has announced it is working with the NFU to explore the potential to source some of the biomass for its BECCS project from British farmers.
- The world’s leading climate scientists at the UN IPCC say BECCS is required in order for the world to address the climate crisis.
- Drax has a world-leading sustainable biomass sourcing policy, which ensures its biomass supports healthy, growing forests, biodiversity and the communities living in the regions it sources from.
