Government receive backlash over funding Drax CO2 Scheme

Environmental campaigners are attempting to put a stop the government’s funding plans for carbon storage at Drax Power Station.

The White Rose project, which will cost in excess of £2bn, comprises of the transportation of CO2 produced at Drax, through a pipeline and then stored beneath the North Sea.

Campaigners, who have signed a petition against the project, claim taxpayers money should be used to educate the public on carbon reduction methods.

The government has already provided millions of pounds worth of funding for a study to be conducted on the scheme.

Alstom, Drax, BOC and National Grid, along with several other companies, are fully supportive of the White Rose project.

Future plans would include the development of a new coal-powered station, on the current Drax site, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The pipeline proposed by The National Grid would be 64km long from Stainforth in South Yorkshire to Barmston in East Yorkshire. CO2 would be converted and transported into liquid, where it would then be stored in porous rock beneath the seabed.

Campaigner Duncan Law told the BBC: “The best kind of capture of carbon is the carbon that is not emitted and if you invest in it you invest in it for the long term rather than building huge carbon intensive infrastructure.”

Peter Emery, chairman of Capture Power which is fronting the project, said: “We’ve been working on the project for five years. It isn’t an overnight decision and we will only proceed if there’s a good probability of success.”