Click here to download the briefing German version of the report Summary The EP holding (EPH) is one of Europe’s largest investors in climate-damaging energy, primarily in fossil fuels, but also in wood-fired power plants in Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic,...
Biomass – UK (not Drax)
Lynemouth Power Station: A smaller version of Drax
Lynemouth Power Station, owned by the Czech energy company EPH, is the second biggest biomass plant in the UK after Drax and one of the biggest in the world. The power station burns up to 1.5 million tonnes of wood every year. The majority of the wood is sourced from...
New Report: Biomass Burning Less Important to UK’s Coal Phaseout than Wind and Solar
A new report published today by Biofuelwatch has revealed that bioenergy has played a smaller role in the UK’s coal phase out than solar and wind energy, or reductions in electricity demand. In the ten years between 2011 and 2020 the UK almost entirely phased out the...
BEIS Biomass Policy Statement – November 2021 – Reference Document
In November 2021 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) released a biomass policy statement, which laid out how the government views various forms of biomass energy ahead of the biomass strategy being released in 2022. What does the...
The Strange Case of Uskmouth Power Station
Note: This briefing has not been updated since October 2018. As of January 2020, the power station has not been converted, and the developers are instead commissioning a feasibility study into the possibility of burning pellets from Refuse Derived Fuel. Uskmouth coal...
UK Coal Phaseout to be introduced with dangerous loopholes and delays
Biofuelwatch briefing about the UK Government's coal phaseout decision announced in January 2018. "The Government announced in 2015 that it seeks to end coal burning for electricity within a decade, albeit only if “ a shift to new gas can be achieved within these...
Wind and solar, not biomass, have been key to the UK’s partial coal phase-out so far
New Biofuelwatch analysis In 2016, the UK generated 72% less electricity from coal than in 2011, which is great news for the climate and for communities around the world whose health and environment are harmed by coal mining. Biofuelwatch has carried out the...
Orthios Group’s Holyhead Biomass Plans: A new threat to forests – or just a sci-fi idea?
Update: The company no longer exists, and administration (bankruptcy) proceedings began in 2021. There is now no possibility of a biomass plant being built at the site. Click here to download the report Summary: Orthios Group wants to build the world’s largest biomass...
Hudol Thermal’s failed gasification pilot plant
Here are the documents which Biofuelwatch Obtained from Natural Resources Wales in response to an information request under the Environmental Information Regulations: Hudol Thermal's original Environmental Permit, granted 23.10.2008 Variation of Hudol Thermal's...
UK Government’s coal phase-out proposal full of loopholes
Loopholes in UK 'coal phase-out' proposals boost coal burning until 2025 and might perpetuate it indefinitely On 9th November 2016, the UK Government released its consultation about a possible phase-out of coal in 2025, called “Coal Generation in Great Britain: The...
Briefings about the UK’s biomass greenhouse gas and sustainability standards
Biofuelwatch has published a policy analysis briefing about the UK's biomass sustainability greenhouse gas and sustainability standards, introduced 1st December 2015. Together with the Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI), we have also produced a briefing for MPs...
Recommendations to UK policymakers: Joint briefing by Biofuelwatch and UK Without Incineration Network
Policy recommendations by Biofuelwatch and the United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN): Renewable Energy Subsidies in the UK: the case for excluding bioenergy and waste incineration
Biomass Gasification & Pyrolysis and the Role of the Green Investment Bank
Biofuelwatch has just published a new report on biomass gasification and pyrolysis (so-called "advanced conversion technologies") in the UK. In addition, a series of questions to the Green Investment Bank has also been published, highlighting serious concerns about...
Biofuelwatch briefing about the biomass plant proposed for Perth by Almondbank Park Power
Update:The company, Almond Bank Power Ltd, folded later in 2014 and the proposed plant has not been built. Almondbank Power’s proposed biomass power plant in Perth: A high-risk experimental technology for burning trees
Biofuelwatch briefing about the Scottish Government’s decision to approve Forth Energy’s Grangemouth biomass application
Update: Forth Energy eventually abandoned plans for biomass power stations in Scotland. The planning consent granted for this plant in Grangemouth expired in 2019: https://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2018/grangemouth-success/ Biofuelwatch briefing: Will the Scottish...
Briefing about Forth Energy’s proposed biomass power station for Dundee
Forth Energy’s proposed biomass power station for Dundee: A closer look at the company’s claims about air quality impacts, sustainability, efficiency and jobs, and why this is happening, Joint briefing by Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth Tayside
RES Biomass Power Station proposal for the Port of Liverpool: Local and wider threats
RES Biomass Power Station proposal for Alexandra Dock, Port of Liverpool: Local and wider threats, Biofuelwatch background briefing
Barrow-in-Furness Biomass Power Station: Local and Global Threats
Read our briefing on a 80MW Biomass Power Station Proposed for Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria here