Drax Panorama Investigation: What happened next?
At the start of the month (3 October), BBC Panorama aired an investigation into the Drax power station in Selby, Yorkshire. The investigation focused on its sourcing for renewable energy production.
Two weeks on, Drax has responded in two separate statements. The first, published the same day the production aired, focuses on the BBC’s findings. In the second, published on 6 October, CEO Will Gardiner discusses several claims made during the programme.
In the first statement, a spokesperson said that as Canada has ‘some of the most highly regulated forests in the world’ it was the company's position that ‘people living in and around these forests are best placed to determine how they should be looked after, not the BBC’.
They added: “Drax’s own world-leading sustainable sourcing policies are aligned with the rigorous regulatory frameworks and rules set by both the BC and UK Governments.”
The statement continued to say that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) supports the use of biomass in meeting global climate targets ‘when sourced sustainably’.
It also claimed that Panorama focused disproportionately on the minority of people who oppose biomass and repeated ‘inaccurate claims which have for years been promoted by those who are ill-informed about the science behind sustainable forestry and climate change’, as well as those who have ‘vested interests in seeing the biomass industry fall’.
The spokesperson also claimed that Panorama failed to contact the company before conducting its research.
Drax’s lawyers have written to the BBC to ‘remind them of their legal and regulatory obligations’ and the company has said it is considering further action.
Drax CEO responds
In its second statement (6 October), Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner, addressed several of the claims made by the BBC.
He reasserted the company’s commitment to ‘ensuring the biomass we source delivers positive outcomes for the climate, for nature and for the communities in which we operate’.
Gardiner continued: “To be clear, not all biomass is sustainable or renewable, but when sourced in the right way it does lead to the positive outcomes we are committed to delivering, and we have clear policies and processes in place to ensure this is the case.
“As CEO, I understand that achieving and sustaining these positive outcomes needs constant challenge – both internally and externally – particularly with those that don’t share our vision of the critical role biomass has to play in decarbonising our economy.”
His statement repeats that the claims made by the BBC were ‘misleading’, in cases ‘simply untrue’ and representing a ‘vocal minority who oppose biomass’.
Eight areas from the BBC investigation were addressed in his statement and rebutted with the following claims:
- Biomass can protect and enhance the environment
- Demand for pellets does not drive deforestation
- Drax does not directly harvest despite licensing holding its name and the areas could still have been deforested if Drax did not hold these licences
- The BBC gave the false impression that logs were taken from Category Two Licence areas to a pellet plant
- The low-grade material (‘slash’) left on the floor during the programme is legally allowed to be left on site for up to two years
- Drax’s Category Two Licences are not areas of primary forest
- Drax does not use logs that should be sent to sawmills to make wood products
- Drax follows all required legislation, regulations and standards
BBC Panorama investigation
The BBC One investigation explored the logging of Canadian natural forests for use in the Yorkshire power station. The logging, performed by Drax’s pellet production company Pinnacle, goes against its sustainability policy which promises to avoid damaging carbon-locking and primary forests, and only to use wood unsuitable for wood products.
Drax states that 20 per cent of its wood pellet supply comes from Canada and that 80 per cent of that comes from leftover sawdust.
The investigation in British Columbia showed that Pinnacle was harvesting high-grade logs and that some of the trees would never have been cut down if Drax hadn’t bought the licences.
Presenter Joe Crowley also found that the majority of the logs were grade one, two, and four which indicates they were appropriate for potential carbon-capturing operations like paper or wood production.
In the programme, Drax originally claimed that the majority of the wood posed a risk of wildfire, as much of it was dead, or that tree species collected were rejected by the timber industry and ultimately would have been incinerated.
The company also stated that its deforesting occurred in areas close to roads and therefore did not fall under the umbrella of ‘primary forests’. Proximity is not accounted for as a measure of a primary forest according to the UN.
The investigation follows accusations of ‘environmental racism’ levied against the company in September.
Julia Turner, Executive Director at the WRA, commented on the investigation’s findings: “This emphasises the importance of using our own end-of-life domestic waste wood to fuel UK biomass energy generation and meet the need for renewable, baseload power.
“There are no material negative impacts of using domestic waste wood for energy recovery. UK plants are compliant with the Industrial Emissions Directive and by using waste as a fuel, UK plants are protecting natural resources and helping to prevent methane emissions from landfill.
“It is estimated that waste wood biomass created 2.27 million tonnes of greenhouse gas savings last year alone.”
