Big subsidies for green power

Sir, - In his somewhat fanciful and grossly misleading letter (June 9) criticising Clark Cross’s earlier letter, Andy Koss, CEO of Drax Power claims that the biomass (wood) burning generating units at the Drax power station “deliver carbon savings of 80% compared to when they used coal”.

Any scientist knows that due to its low-energy density, burning wood emits at least 25% more carbon dioxide than burning coal per kWh of electricity generated.

Hence the so-called biomass units at the Drax site will currently be emitting more carbon dioxide locally than before they were converted from coal-fired units.

As for his claim that the wood used as fuel is replaced by the growing of new trees, this too is mythical.

We all know that the rate of wood burning, measured in hours, is vastly quicker than the rate at which new trees grow, measured in years.

Neither can it be possible to sustainably source the 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes of daily fuel required from “lowgrade sources” such as sawmill waste and thinnings, as claimed.

I also note that Mr Koss makes no mention of the fact that the electricity generated by wood burning costs the consumer more than double that produced by coal and that the Drax biomass units are subsidised to enable them to compete with other forms of electricity generation. Dr GM Lindsay. Whinfield Gardens. Kinross.