North Yorkshire-based Drax Group plc has recorded a 52% reduction in its carbon emissions in the first half of 2019 (compared to the first half of last year), with 94% of the energy produced at its power station in Selby being ‘renewable’.

Imperial College London’s Iain Staffell said: “Britain’s power system is decarbonising faster than any other country in the world. We have spent more than half the summer without a single coal-fired power station turned on, and
renewables are breaking new records all the time.

“As a result, our power stations are producing 100 million tonnes less CO2 per year than they were just six years ago. The amount of carbon saved is equivalent to taking every single car and van off the UK’s roads, or what would be produced if every single person in the UK flew to Beijing and back.

“It’s fantastic progress, but we still have a long way to go to meet our net-zero-carbon targets.”

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner said (www.drax.com): “Drax is playing an important role in the energy transition. With our biomass, pumped storage, hydro and gas power stations, we are generating more renewable, low-carbon and flexible power to support the system as it continues to decarbonise.

"Having converted another generating unit at Drax Power Station in Selby to use biomass instead of coal last year, we’re now producing more renewable power at the times it is needed most, but we would like to go further.

"If we can scale up our successful bio-energy with carbon capture and storage, Drax could become the world’s first negative-emissions power station in the mid-2020s, helping to achieve the Government’s net-zero by 2050 carbon target.”