The Drax power station, a biomass facility in North Yorkshire, recorded its highest-ever carbon emissions last year, marking the 11th consecutive year it has been the United Kingdom's largest single emitter. The station generated 14.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in the past year, according to a report by the energy think-tank Ember.
Despite these record emissions, Drax received a record public subsidy of £999 million in 2025, which Ember estimates cost households approximately £13 each. Since 2012, the company has received a total of £8.72 billion in public subsidies, funded through consumer bills. These subsidies are available because Drax's biomass emissions are not included in official UK emissions statistics, a consequence of United Nations accounting rules.
The plant burns wood pellets, which are classified as renewable energy as long as new trees are planted to replace those harvested. However, the Ember report noted that over 99 percent of the fuel used by Drax last year was imported. The report also stated that Drax emitted four times more CO2e than Pembroke, the second-largest emitter, which is a gas power station.
Josie Murdoch, an analyst at Ember, commented on the findings, stating, "Drax's 11th year running as the UK's biggest emitter is coming at a high cost." Murdoch added, "Burning biomass for power generation will never stop being bad value for billpayers or our environment and must be phased out entirely."
A spokesperson for Drax defended the company's practices, asserting that Ember's analysis disregards internationally recognized carbon accounting standards supported by climate scientists at the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regarding sustainable biomass.