Drax power plant, Britain’s biggest source of carbon emissions, has continued to burn 250-year-old trees from some of Canada’s oldest forests despite scrutiny of its sustainability claims, according to a new report by environmental non-profit Stand.earth.
The report, seen by the Guardian, uses official data from the government of British Columbia and satellite monitoring to suggest that a subsidiary of Drax Group received hundreds of truckloads of whole logs at its biomass pellet sites throughout 2024 and into 2025. These logs were likely to have included trees hundreds of years old, the report claims.
Drax, which receives more than £2m a day in green energy subsidies from UK bill payers, has stated it sources wood only from “well-managed, sustainable forests”. However, the report claims that the company received 90 truckloads of logs from “old-growth forests” in the Skeena region of British Columbia, home to some of Canada’s largest undeveloped wilderness areas.
Old-growth forests are defined by the local government as areas with trees older than 250 years in slow-growth ecosystems, or older than 140 years in faster-growth ecosystems. Drax said in October 2023 it had stopped sourcing wood from areas designated as “protected” or “deferred” old-growth forest stands, but these designated areas cover less than half of the total old-growth forest in British Columbia.
The report claims that in 2024 and 2025, Drax received at least an additional 425 truckloads of whole logs from cutblocks containing old-growth forests. Of these, 63 loads came from cutblocks with more than 90% old-growth forest, making it “almost certain” they contained old growth. A further 362 loads came from cutblocks that were more than 80% old growth, making it “likely” they contained old growth.
A Drax spokesperson said: “Our sourcing policy means Drax does not source biomass from designated areas of old growth and only sources woody biomass from well-managed, sustainable forests.” Tegan Hansen, lead author of the report, said the loss of British Columbia’s old-growth trees was “a big problem that’s getting bigger”.
