The government has been urged to block plans by Drax to replace the two remaining coal units at its power station in Yorkshire with combined-cycle gas turbines.
A coalition of 75 environmental groups made the petition in an open letter addressed to the Planning Inspectorate and the business and energy secretary Greg Clark. Signatories included Friends of the Earth and the Green Party.
The letter called for the project to be refused planning permission and barred from bidding in capacity market auctions to limit greenhouse gas emissions. It said support should instead be focused on renewables and energy efficiency measures.
“Drax is already the UK’s single largest emitter of carbon dioxide,” the document stated. “Its power station causes serious harm to the climate and the environment by burning more coal than any other UK plant and more wood than any other plant in the world.
“Much of the wood comes from the clear-cutting of carbon rich forests in the southern US which lie at the heart of a global biodiversity hotspot.
“With the UK government demanding a coal phase-out by 2025, Drax now wants to build the UK’s largest ever gas power units and is asking for substantial new subsidies, in addition to the £2 million a day it is already receiving for burning wood.”
The letter noted that Drax’s own environmental report said the project would result in a “significant net increase in greenhouse gas emissions and have therefore negative climate impacts”.
It warned that allowing the plans to proceed would prevent the UK from meeting its commitments under the Paris climate change agreement.
The letter also raised concerns that an increased reliance on gas for electricity generation would lead to more of the fuel being imported from Russia or extracted from shale using hydraulic fracturing.
“All gas production and transport is associated with leakage of the potent greenhouse gas methane, but unconventional gas comes with far greater methane emissions”, it added.
“Methane leakage in the production of gas for Drax would therefore greatly increase carbon emissions over and above the smokestack emissions.
Responding to the letter, a spokesperson for the company said: “Drax’s highly efficient gas re-power project will help deliver the government’s commitment to remove coal from the UK grid. This will help meet the country’s climate change obligations at the same time as keeping costs low for UK consumers.
“The project will upgrade existing infrastructure, protecting jobs and reducing investment costs, and build one of what could be one of the world’s largest batteries, to provide capacity, stability and essential grid services.
“Drax is already the largest decarbonisation project in Europe through its use of sustainable biomass. Gas generation will bring the flexibility needed to support the UK’s ongoing energy transition.”