Photo Credit: Big coal –> big biomass at the U.K.’s Drax Power Station
Situated on the River Ouse, the Drax Power Station provides about 7% of the United Kingdom’s electricity supply. With its 4 GW capacity, Drax is the second largest coal-fired power plant in Europe and the U.K.’s number one emitter of carbon dioxide. This spring, facility directors announced that half of the plant’s capacity would be converted to [...]
Situated on the River Ouse, the Drax Power Station provides about 7% of the United Kingdom’s electricity supply. With its 4 GW capacity, Drax is the second largest coal-fired power plant in Europe and the U.K.’s number one emitter of carbon dioxide. This spring, facility directors announced that half of the plant’s capacity would be converted to renewable sources. It is expected that, by 2015, the facility will burn 7.5 million metric tons per year of imported biomass (mostly wood pellets from the United States and Canada).
Photo Credit: Photo taken on March 20, 2008 by thewritingzone and found using Creative Commons.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Melissa C. Lott is an engineer and researcher who works at the intersection of energy and public health. Follow Melissa C. Lott on Twitter
