At Argyll Countryside Trust (ACT), we’re dedicated to sustainably maintaining, enhancing and promoting the coast and countryside of Argyll and the Isles. We do this by working in partnership with a range of local communities, public sector and third sector organisations, as well as through our partnership with the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest.

As a social enterprise, core funding is essential, and we are always investigating creative ways to generate income to ensure we can have a long-term impact in Argyll and the Isles. Since 2023, the Drax Foundation, the charitable entity of Drax Group, has been supporting us.

The Drax Foundation was founded in 2023 to give back to the communities in which Drax operates and in its first year of operation, it donated a total of £2.7 million around the world, providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and training for 70,300 children globally and helping almost 21,000 people with access to community green spaces.

In 2023, we were thrilled to be granted two rounds of funding by the Foundation totalling £67k, helping us to expand our outdoor STEM learning to more children, and establish a native tree nursery as a key part of our new Woodland Enterprise Hub. Overall, this funding enabled us to provide 750 children with access to outdoor nature-based learning. We also gathered 11,500 acorns as part of our efforts to expand nature tree species in the area.

More recently, we were delighted to hear that we’re one of 15 global organisations, including 3 Scottish organisations, receiving money in the Drax Foundation’s latest round of funding. We will be receiving almost £41k to continue our work to deliver outdoor STEM learning in Scotland. With this funding, we look to build on our success in 2023, supporting more learners and educators, and working with key partners to firmly establish the benefits of learning in the natural settings of Argyll and Bute.

We thank the Drax Foundation for their support, and we’re looking forward to making a positive difference together.

Learn more about the Drax Foundation here: drax.com/community

The post Expanding outdoor STEM learning with the Drax Foundation appeared first on Drax UK.

Additionally, leading thinktank Public First’s research shows that in 2028 the UK is on course to hit an energy security “crunch point” – with peak demand predicted to exceed secure dispatchable and baseload capacity by 7.5GW.

This is due to delays in bringing new generation on to the system, anticipated increased demand for power, and aging assets, including coal, nuclear and gas, coming off the electricity grid.

That means to deliver energy security, meet rising demand for power and to reach binding net zero targets, including the 5^th and 6^th carbon budgets, the next government needs to go further and faster.

This year marks half a century that Drax has been powering the UK and contributing to security of supply. Today, the flexible, dispatchable power that our assets in North Yorkshire and Scotland produce keep the lights on when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.

Drax Power Station, the UK’s largest single-source of renewable electricity, powers 4 million homes. In Scotland, Cruachan Power Station and our other hydro power sites provide the grid flexibility, reduce the need for curtailment payments to wind farms and help meet the demand for energy.

In total our business delivers about 4% of the UK’s electricity and 8% of its renewable power.

Subject to getting the right policy support, we stand ready to invest billions to deliver carbon removals and renewable power using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at Drax and more than double the pumped hydro storage capacity at Cruachan.

Completing these projects will mean we can play a vital long-term role in providing secure power to the country and supporting the next government in meeting the goal of a decarbonised grid by 2030 or 2035. Without Drax’s assets delivering these targets will be extremely challenging.

Our plans for BECCS and the expansion at Cruachan will also reduce the country’s exposure to commercially volatile and imported fossil fuels, enhance our national security and create and support thousands of jobs during construction.

But to realise this potential, the next government must prioritise and speed up implementing the support required to unlock the investment for these major infrastructure projects.

To deliver the first pumped storage hydro power stations in the UK for decades, including the Cruachan expansion, we need to see a cap and floor mechanism implemented. This would provide an investment framework to reduce risks for investors while at the same time encouraging operators of the new storage facilities to respond to system needs.

And all large-scale biomass generators planning to transition to BECCS need the certainty of a bridging mechanism to maintain their flexible, dispatchable renewable power between the end of the current renewable support and BECCS operations starting.

The carbon removals BECCS can deliver are recognised by the world’s leading climate scientists, including the UN’s IPCC and the UK’s CCC, as crucial to almost all pathways to reach net zero and fighting climate change. The carbon credits produced through BECCS can be purchased by companies with emissions that are hard or impossible to abate providing a pathway for them to permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Energy security, jobs and skills and net zero should go hand in hand and we want to work with the next Government to swiftly implement these policies. Doing so will give new ministers the best chance possible to maintain progress on decarbonising the UK’s energy system while ensuring there is sufficient, secure capacity to meet the country’s energy needs without relying on foreign fossil fuels.

Learn more about how Drax supports the UK energy system here.

The post Drax’s plans can help the next Government deliver UK energy security appeared first on Drax UK.

In July 2023, Drax received development consent from the Scottish Government to build a new 600MW underground pumped storage hydro plant at its existing Cruachan facility in Argyll, which will more than double its electricity generating capacity.

Whilst a major milestone for the Cruachan expansion project, the right support is still needed from the UK Government to facilitate its development and we’re pleased to see some positive progress has recently been made.

During a visit to Cruachan Power Station following last year’s announcement of development consent, Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, called on the UK Government to “provide an appropriate market mechanism” for projects including Cruachan’s expansion. Mr Yousaf also wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to take action so developers can have the certainty required to build a new generation of pumped storage hydro plants.

In order to incentivise investment for new-build pumped storage hydro plants, new financial mechanisms are needed to enable investors to back capital-intensive, long-length construction projects that will save consumers and the grid millions. The current lack of these frameworks is a key reason why no new pumped storage hydro plants have been built in the UK since 1984.

Growing the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity is crucial to integrating more wind and solar power onto the energy grid, enhancing the nation’s energy security while tackling climate change. Pumped storage plants act like giant water batteries by using reversible turbines to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir which stores excess power from sources such as wind farms when supply outstrips demand. These same turbines are then reversed to bring the stored water back through the plant to generate power when the country needs it.

At the start of this year, the UK Government announced that it has selected a cap and floor regime as its preferred investment framework for new large-scale, long-duration electricity storage projects, which is a huge step towards making a new generation of pumped storage hydro plants a reality.

What is a ‘cap and floor’ mechanism?

A cap and floor mechanism works by setting an upper and lower revenue limit an operator participating in the mechanism can earn from a particular asset. The lower revenue limit, or ‘floor’, is the guaranteed minimum amount of revenue that a generation asset can earn. If a generation asset does not generate enough revenue from its operations, this gets topped up to reach that floor level from the system operator using an allocated budget. At the other end of the limit, the ‘cap’ is the maximum amount of revenue the operator can earn from the asset. In cases where an asset’s revenue exceeds the cap, a proportion of the funds earned above the cap threshold are paid back to the system operator and used to reduce the cost of using the system for customers.

The cap and floor mechanism enables private investors in long-duration electricity storage projects, such as Drax’s planned expansion of Cruachan, to have a better degree of confidence by alleviating a significant amount of risk and uncertainty around whether they can recover their costs. Having a predictable revenue stream makes it more likely investors and lenders will support projects with high upfront capital costs. As well as de-risking investment and providing better value for money to customers, a cap and floor mechanism also rewards availability and efficiency, as operators are still exposed to opportunities between the cap and the floor. This includes participating in a number of different markets like the ancillary services markets, where Cruachan is able to earn revenue by providing critical inertia and stability to the grid, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the electricity system. Similarly, wholesale market arbitrage allows Cruachan to respond to price signals both in times of low/high generation and peak demand. These market opportunities incentivise operators to optimise their operations to generate revenue towards the highest end of the cap thresholds, driving innovation and efficiency in the sector. This efficiency is not only beneficial for the operators but also for the overall National Grid, bolstering the stability and reliability of the UK’s electricity supply. This enables projects to benefit from competitive market opportunities and provide services in response to price changes and benefit the consumer by providing critical services that the system needs at a competitive price.

What does this mean for Drax’s Cruachan expansion project and what are the next steps?

The UK Government’s consultation on designing a policy framework to enable investment in long-duration electricity storage ran from 9 January to 5 March 2024, and is now closed.

The consultation proposal of a cap and floor is very positive news for Drax’s planned Cruachan expansion, as it will provide the project with a route to market once the mechanism is in place. Without it, the significant upfront capital expenditure and revenue uncertainty would remain a barrier to investing in the project.

One of the most immediate benefits of pumped storage hydro is that it provides extremely quick back-up during periods of peak demand. For example, when deployed alongside intermittent renewables like wind or solar power, Cruachan can step in to store excess energy and provide it back to the grid when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. This reduces the waste and cost to customers associated with renewable curtailment.

With the Government’s ambition to deliver 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 as part of its Net Zero targets, it is in the interest of both Government and the grid to ensure enough storage is available by this point to manage the inherent intermittency of this technology. Pumped storage hydro projects have long construction times, over 5 years in the case of the planned Cruachan expansion. This means that delivery of the mechanism in the near-term is critical to ensuring that it’s available to support the electricity system in the early 2030s and beyond.

What are the benefits of pumped storage hydro for the UK?

A report by Scottish Renewables and BiGGAR Economics recently found that six projects currently under development in Scotland, including the Cruachan expansion project, will:

• More than double the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity to 7.7GW.
• Create almost 15,000 jobs.
• Generate up to £5.8 billion for the UK economy by 2035.

During its construction phase, the Cruachan expansion is projected to provide up to £73m GVA and over 150 jobs in Argyll and Bute. Across Scotland this increases up to £260m GVA and over 500 jobs, which is a total possible UK benefit of over £470m GVA added to the economy and over 1,100 jobs supported amongst the wider supply chain and indirect local area support.

Pumped storage hydro can also provide a number of extra balancing and ancillary services outside of energy storage and generation, across multiple different markets. These markets play a critical role in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the electricity system by providing grid inertia, voltage control frequency response and restoration services, alongside quick flexible response to price signals both in times of low and peak demand. Being able to support wider services in this manner means pumped storage hydro offers better value for money to both investors and consumers, with an Imperial College study finding that it could help to reduce total system costs like these by between £44m and £316m per annum by 2050.

We look forward to working constructively with the UK Government and other stakeholders to help deliver a policy environment which secures investment, strengthens our energy security, and delivers for consumers. We’re ready to move mountains to tackle climate change.

Find out more about Cruachan’s plans for expansion here: drax.com/cruachan2

The post Expanding pumped storage hydro to support the UK’s transition to Net Zero appeared first on Drax UK.

Drax welcomes the UK Government’s announcement of the launch of a consultation on a transitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass generators, including Drax Power Station, as they transition from the end of their current renewable schemes in 2027 to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

The consultation, which closes on 29 February 2024, recognises the important role which biomass can play in delivering the UK’s plans for net zero as well as energy security, and sets out four models for consideration, including two variations of a CfD model.

Drax Group CEO, Will Gardiner said:

“The Government’s announcement is a welcome step forward in facilitating the deployment of large-scale BECCS and the development of CCUS Clusters in the UK.

“BECCS is currently the only credible large-scale technology that can generate renewable power and deliver carbon removals. The consultation is necessary to develop an appropriate mechanism that will ensure biomass power stations, like Drax Power Station, continue to play an important role in the UK’s energy security while transitioning to BECCS and helping the UK to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. We will be responding to the consultation in due course.”

In December 2023, the UK Government reiterated its ambition to deploy at least 5 MtCO₂/year of engineered greenhouse gas removals by 2030, potentially scaling to 23 MtCO₂/year by 2035 and up to 81 MtCO₂/year by 2050, and published its latest position on the design of a Power BECCS business model, which includes a 15-year CfD with a dual payment mechanism linked to both low-carbon electricity and negative emissions.

Drax believes that delivery of this ambition will require the development of at least one BECCS unit at Drax Power Station by 2030. Subject to the right investment framework, Drax plans to install carbon capture technology on two of the existing four biomass units. Each unit would be capable of capturing c.4Mt of CO₂ per year.

A link to the consultation is copied below.
Transitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass electricity generators – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Analysis by the consultancy Baringa (commissioned by Drax) shows that BECCS at Drax Power Station could save the UK up to £15bn between 2030 and 2050 and would help ensure that the station continues to provide important security of supply benefits. A link to the report can be found here.

Other developments

Separately, on Tuesday 16 January 2024, the UK Government approved the Development Consent Order (DCO) for plans to convert two biomass units at Drax Power Station to BECCS.

The DCO is another milestone for the project, providing planning consent for its development.

Enquiries:

Drax Investor Relations: Mark Strafford
mark.strafford@drax.com
+44 (0) 7730 763 949

Media:

Drax External Communications: Chris Mostyn / Andy Low
chris.mostyn@drax.com
+44 (0) 7548 838 896

andrew.low@drax.com
+44 (0) 7841 068 415

Website: www.Drax.com

END

The post Bridging Mechanism Consultation appeared first on Drax UK.

DESNZ also set out an indicative timeline that shortlisted projects would commence negotiations from Autumn 2024. DESNZ will now receive feedback on its draft proposals pending further updates and the publication of final guidance in due course.

Will Gardiner, Drax CEO, said:

“The Government’s statements are a helpful step forward not just for BECCS in the UK, but for the wider fight against climate change. We can only reach net zero by investing in critical, new green technologies such as BECCS. I welcome the Government’s draft position and urge them to progress with both Track-1 expansion and Track-2 processes in parallel this winter”.

Separately, in August 2023 the UK Government published a Biomass Strategy which set out its position on the use of biomass in the UK’s plans for delivering net zero. The Biomass Strategy outlined the potential “extraordinary” role which biomass can play across the economy in power, heating and transport, including a priority role for BECCS, which is seen as critical for meeting net zero plans due to its ability to provide large-scale carbon dioxide removals. This is in addition to formal bilateral discussions between Drax and the Government in relation to a potential bridging mechanism between the end of the current renewable schemes in 2027 and the commissioning of BECCS at Drax Power Station.

Enquiries:

Drax Investor Relations:
Mark Strafford
+44 (0) 7730 763 949

Media:

Drax External Communications:
Aidan Kerr
+44 (0) 0784 909 0368

Website: www.Drax.com

END

The post Track-1 expansion process update appeared first on Drax UK.

• Scotland’s ambitious plan to expand its wind capacity­ and reach net zero by 2045 will require greater levels of energy storage
• Plans to expand the storage and generation capacity of Cruachan pumped storage hydro station from 440 MW to over 1 GW can help support a re­­newable future
• Greater levels of energy storage can also reduce the costs of operating the grid and enable the greater utilisation of renewable electricity sources such as wind.
• Expansion plans for Cruachan would bring as many as 900 jobs during the construction phase across the supply chain and continue Drax’s commitment to local communities and environments
• The project is a large-scale and long-term infrastructure solution to some of the critical issues faced by Scotland’s electricity network.

The hit Star Wars TV series Andor might be set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but audiences in Argyll and Brute may recognise a local landmark on the titular distant planet.

Cruachan Power Station’s 316-metre-long buttress-style dam served as a setting for the space thriller. However, here on planet Earth, it has another big role to play in supporting Scotland and the UK’s efforts to reach net zero emissions.

The pumped storage hydro station, known as the ‘Hollow Mountain’, complements Scotland’s wider strategy to expand its onshore wind capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. The plant’s ability to absorb excess electricity at times of low demand, and discharge it again when needed, allows it to play a key role in balancing and supporting the national transmission system.

As Scotland and the rest of the UK move to a future increasingly powered by intermittent renewables, ambitious plans to increase Cruachan’s capacity to more than 1GW, will also help create jobs in Argyll and Bute and support communities through the net zero transition.

Scotland’s wind power potential

Scotland’s famously blustery, wet weather and dramatic landscapes of mountains and lochs has long enabled it to pioneer hydro schemes along its rivers, pumped storage hydro on its mountainsides, and wind turbines on and offshore.

Wind power contributed heavily to Scotland achieving 97% renewable electricity generation in 2020. And with more than 17 GW of additional capacity in the pipeline, Scotland has the potential to be the wind powerhouse of the UK – in 2021, Scotland exported 33% of its generation in net transfers to England and Northern Ireland, having previously set a record 37.3% in 2020.

However, simply generating a lot of power isn’t the whole story. Generating too much power can even be a problem for grids if there is nowhere for that power to go. Currently, constraints in the transmission system limit how much power can be exported from Scotland to meet demand in other parts of the UK.

When generators start producing these surpluses, the grid operator has to pay wind farms to turn them off. It’s estimated that wind curtailment costs added £806m to energy bills in Britain in 2020 and 2021. This is where energy storage comes in, offering somewhere for power to be redirected and reducing curtailment costs.

Enter Cruachan. At maximum load Cruachan Power Station can generate 440 MW, enough to power 1 million homes, when water from the upper reservoir is released, flowing through the plant’s four turbines, and entering Loch Awe below. But when there is more electricity on the system than demand, excess electricity can be used to power turbines that pump water up from Loch Awe to the upper reservoir where it’s stored until needed.

Pumped storage hydro, as this system is called, offers long-term, large-scale energy storage to the UK’s electricity system, helping to reduce costs and prepare for a renewable-led future.

The large-scale, long-term storage solution

Since opening in the 1960s Cruachan has only become more important in helping to stabilise an increasingly renewable UK, while supplying ancillary services like inertia to the grid. The Cruachan expansion plan to expand the facility and bring its ability to absorb and discharge electricity to more than 1 GW can offer a host of benefits to the grid and power to consumers across the country.

Cruachan’s ability to reach full generating capacity in less than 30 seconds means that it can respond quickly to fluctuations in supply and demand. When Cruachan provides power back to the system in times of high demand, it can in turn lead to lower peak power prices. This becomes even more important at a time of high gas prices, when ordinary consumers are feeling the impact of rising energy costs more than ever.

Increasing Cruachan’s capacity to generate and absorb power can help reduce transmission system costs and wind curtailment. It also offers a zero-carbon source of stabilising ancillary services to the grid, which have historically been provided by gas generators. As the proportion of gas generation decreases and the proportion of intermittent renewables generation increases, low-carbon generators that are able to provide these services will become increasingly more important.

Importantly, the Cruachan expansion is a long-term solution. The expanded facility would have an operational life span of more than half a century, significantly longer than the 10-15 years offered by lithium-ion battery storage solutions.

However, there is a need for a financial mechanism to de-risk the project for investors and offer value for money for consumers. The cap and floor mechanism, which ensures generating revenues remain within a specific range, is currently used for interconnectors to stabilise revenues by offering sufficient certainty to investors that income will cover the cost of debt, which unlocks finance for new projects. A similar mechanism could be introduced to support energy storage technologies that will be needed to support a renewable future, such as the Cruachan expansion. The UK government must act quickly to implement the mechanism and realise the opportunity that storage can provide to the UK and Scotland.

Making the Cruachan expansion a reality  

Expanding Cruachan is a long-term, large-scale project that will create a range of jobs and economic benefits and help support the local economy through the transition to net zero.

“I am absolutely delighted that Drax is progressing plans to expand the Ben Cruachan site,” says Jenni Minto, Member of Scottish Parliament. “This will not only support 900 jobs and create a pumped storage facility that will be able to provide enough renewable energy to power a million homes, it will provide £165 million benefit to the local economy during construction.”

In addition to 150 on-site local construction jobs, the project’s supply chain will create opportunities across a range of industries, from quarrying and engineering, to transport and hospitality.

 “The Cruachan extension is a really exciting project and one that’s really important for Scotland.” says Claire Mack, CEO Scottish Renewables. “It brings together a number of our really important skills, including civil engineering and electrical engineering. What we really want to see is a renewables industry that’s thriving but also driving economic gain in Scotland.”

Cruachan has operated in the region for more than half a century and has supported local communities through more than just job creation. This includes a donation to The Rockfield Centre in Oban to help fund a new community hub, offering education as well as a social space. Following Cruachan’s appearance in Andor, Drax also made a five-figure donation to several charities and good causes across Argyll, including Oban Mountain Rescue’s efforts to create a rural defibrillator network.

As well as lending a helping hand to local communities, Cruachan’s teams have always taken precautions to minimise any impact on the natural environment and preserve the area’s biodiversity and natural beauty.

The Cruachan expansion is an engineering project on an epic scale. It will involve carving huge new underground caverns, tunnels, and waterways out of the rock below Ben Cruachan. But in doing so it will create long-term opportunities for the local community and a key piece of infrastructure to take Scotland into a net zero future.

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All living things contain carbon and the carbon cycle is the process through which the element continuously moves from one place in nature to another. Most carbon is stored in rock and sediment, but it’s also found in soil, oceans, and the atmosphere, and is produced by all living organisms – including plants, animals, and humans.

Carbon atoms move between the atmosphere and various storage locations, also known as reservoirs, on Earth. They do this through mechanisms such as photosynthesis, the decomposition and respiration of living organisms, and the eruption of volcanoes.

As our planet is a closed system, the overall amount of carbon doesn’t change. However, the level of carbon stored in a particular reservoir, including the atmosphere, can and does change, as does the speed at which carbon moves from one reservoir to another.

What is the role of photosynthesis in the carbon cycle?

Carbon exists in many different forms, including the colourless and odourless gas that is carbon dioxide (CO₂)_. During photosynthesis, plants absorb light energy from the sun, water through their roots, and CO₂ from the air – converting them into oxygen and glucose.

The oxygen is then released back into the air, while the carbon is stored in glucose_, and used for energy by the plant to feed its stem, branches, leaves, and roots. Plants also release CO₂ into the atmosphere through respiration.

Animals – including humans – who consume plants similarly digest the glucose for energy purposes. The cells in the human body then break down the glucose, with CO₂ emitted as a waste product as we exhale.

CO₂ is also produced when plants and animals die and are broken down by organisms such as fungi and bacteria during decomposition.

What is the fast carbon cycle?

The natural process of plants and animals releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition and plants absorbing it via photosynthesis is known as the biogenic carbon cycle. Biogenic refers to something that is produced by or originates from a living organism. This cycle also incorporates CO₂ absorbed and released by the world’s oceans.

The biogenic carbon cycle is also called the “fast” carbon cycle, as the carbon that circulates through it does so comparatively quickly. There are nevertheless substantial variations within this faster cycle. Reservoir turnover times – a measure of how long the carbon remains in one location – range from years for the atmosphere to decades through to millennia for major carbon sinks on land and in the ocean.

What is the slow carbon cycle?

In some circumstances, plant and animal remains can become fossilised. This process, which takes millions of years, eventually leads to the formation of fossil fuels. Coal comes from the remains of plants that have been transformed into sedimentary rock. And we get crude oil and natural gas from plankton that once fell to the ocean floor and was, over time, buried by sediment.

The rocks and sedimentary layers where coal, crude oil, and natural gas are found form part of what is known as the geological or slow carbon cycle. From this cycle, carbon is returned to the atmosphere through, for example, volcanic eruptions and the weathering of rocks. In the slow carbon cycle, reservoir turnover times exceed 10,000 years and can stretch to millions of years.

How do humans impact the carbon cycle?

Left to its own devices, Earth can keep CO₂ levels balanced, with similar amounts of CO₂ released into and absorbed from the air. Carbon stored in rocks and sediment would slowly be emitted over a long period of time. However, human activity has upset this natural equilibrium.

Burning fossil fuel releases carbon that’s been sequestered in geological formations for millions of years, transferring it from the slow to the fast (biogenic) carbon cycle. This influx of fossil carbon leads to excessive levels of atmospheric CO_2, that the biogenic carbon cycle can’t cope with.

As a greenhouse gas that traps heat from the sun between the Earth and its atmosphere, CO₂ is essential to human existence. Without CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, the planet could become too cold to sustain life.

However, the drastic increase in atmospheric CO₂ due to human activity means that too much heat is now retained between Earth and the atmosphere. This has led to a continued rise in the average global temperature, a development that is part of climate change.

Where does biomass fit into the carbon cycle?

One way to help reduce fossil carbon is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, including sustainably sourced biomass. Feedstock for biomass energy includes plant material, wood, and forest residue – organic matter that absorbs CO₂ as part of the biogenic carbon cycle. When the biomass is combusted in energy or electricity generation, the biogenic carbon stored in the organic matter is released back into the atmosphere as CO₂.

This is distinctly different from the fossil carbon released by oil, gas, and coal. The addition of carbon capture and storage to bioenergy – creating BECCS – means the biogenic carbon absorbed by the organic matter is captured and sequestered, permanently removing it from the atmosphere. By capturing CO₂ and transporting it to geological formations – such as porous rocks – for permanent storage, BECCS moves CO₂ from the fast to the slow carbon cycle.

This is the opposite of burning fossil fuels, which takes carbon out of geological formations (the slow carbon cycle) and emits it into the atmosphere (the fast carbon cycle). Because BECCS removes more carbon than it emits, it delivers negative emissions.

Fast facts

• According to a 2019 study, human activity including the burning of fossil fuels releases between 40 and 100 times more carbon every year than all volcanic eruptions around the world.
• In March 2021, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reported that average CO₂ in the atmosphere for that month was 14 parts per million. This was 50% higher than at the time of the Industrial Revolution (1750-1800).
• There is an estimated 85 billion gigatonne (Gt) of carbon stored below the surface of the Earth. In comparison, just 43,500 Gt is stored on land, in oceans, and in the atmosphere.
• Forests around the world are vital carbon sinks, absorbing around 7.6 million tonnes of CO₂ every year.

Go deeper

• Can carbon capture take the UK beyond net zero?
• The carbon cycle and the impact of changes to it
• Forests, net zero, and the science behind biomass
• Atmospheric CO2 now hitting 50% higher than pre-industrial levels
• What are fossil fuels?

The post What is the carbon cycle? appeared first on Drax UK.

• Since 2021, there has been a sharp rise in the price of electricity, driven by a steep increase in wholesale gas prices in Europe in particular.
• A number of factors, including the impact of COVID-19 and the effects of the war in Ukraine have contributed to driving gas prices to record highs.
• The volatility of gas prices means the UK needs to find replacements for the role of gas in helping to balance the electricity grid.
• Biomass and pumped storage hydro have the capacity to provide reliable, renewable energy to UK homes and businesses, while contributing to keeping the grid stable.

Great Britain, and many other parts of the world, are in a phase of energy uncertainty. Since 2021, soaring power prices have caused energy bills to escalate as much as five-fold and led to a string of collapses of UK energy suppliers.

As of October 2022, the annual energy bill for a UK household with “typical” energy consumption has been capped at £2,500 a year –  96% higher than the winter 2021/22 price cap – the upper limits the rates suppliers can charge for their default tariffs.

The costs of energy to end consumers would be even higher were it not for this energy price guarantee introduced by the UK government on 1 October and currently due to be in place until 31 March 2023. In Germany, the government has committed €200 billion towards a ‘defensive shield’ against surging energy prices, while France has capped energy price increases at 4% for 2022 and 15% from January 2023.

The primary factor in this change is the rise in natural gas prices.

Periods of turbulence driven by commodity prices emphasises the need for a diverse, secure supply of power generation available to the UK grid. As the energy system works through the necessary transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources, the need for a reliable, low-carbon, affordable power becomes even greater.

Electricty lines carrying power to the people of South Wales.

What’s driving up gas prices? 

As the world went into lockdown in 2020 the demand for energy, including gas, dropped – and so did supply. When countries began to emerge from lockdown in 2021 and economies started to reboot, supply struggled to keep up with renewed demand, triggering a rise in the price of wholesale gas, and other fuels. The cold winter in 2020-2021 and unusually hot summers in 2021 and 2022 also dented European gas storage levels, further contributing to rising gas prices.

 An already uncertain energy market was further destabilised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was particularly true in Europe, (most notably Germany) where Russian gas at the time accounted for around 40% of total gas consumption. Gas prices began increase rapidly as a result of factors including fears that Russia would restrict the supply of gas to Europe in response to sanctions against the country, or that an embargo on Russian gas would be introduced.

Constrained gas supplies also increased global demand for alternative sources like liquified natural gas (LNG) imports, which account for about 22% of the UK’s gas. This increase in demand has pushed up the price of these alternatives, forcing countries to compete to attract supplies.

There are several reasons why higher gas prices have such a significant impact on UK energy prices. Firstly, a considerable proportion of UK electricity comes from gas. In the second quarter of 2022, gas represented 42% of the UK energy mix, making it the country’s single largest source of electricity.

The UK also relies heavily on gas to heat its homes. And with those homes being some of the oldest and least energy-efficient in Europe, it takes more gas to heat them up and keep them warm.

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The role of biomass and pumped storage hydro in ensuring security of supply 

In addition to the pressures placed on gas and electricity supplies since 2021, the UK’s journey to net zero depends on increasing reliance on intermittent sources of power, such as wind and solar. As such, there is a renewed need to ensure a diverse range of power generation sources to secure electricity supply globally.

As gas becomes less economical, biomass offers a renewable reliable, dispatchable source of power that can balance the grid and supply baseload power regardless of weather conditions.

Our four 645 MW biomass-fuelled generating turbines at Drax Power Station make it the largest single renewable source of power in the UK. The plant can produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of five million homes come rain or shine.

Drax’s Cruachan pumped storage hydro power station in the Scottish Highlands also offers National Grid the capacity to store 440 MW of renewable power. By absorbing excess electricity from zero carbon sources, like wind and solar, Cruachan can store and deploy power when the grid needs it most.

The ability of pumped storage hydro and biomass plants to store energy and quickly adjust output as required will become ever more important as the UK’s use of renewables grows and there are fewer spinning turbines connected to the grid.  As renewable, non-intermittent sources of electricity, biomass and pumped storage hydro are central to a safe, economic, and stable electricity grid – and to the UK’s low-carbon energy future.

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In brief:

• The voluntary carbon market will be essential in deploying engineered carbon removals technologies like Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACS) at scale.
• The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market is developing a set of Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).
• Drax support proposed principals if they’re applied in ways appropriate for engineered carbon removals.
• Standards around additionality and the permeance of carbon removals may apply very differently to nature-based and engineered removals, something that needs to be addressed explicitly.

There’s growing recognition, in governments and environmental organisations, of the urgent need to develop high-integrity engineered carbon removals at scale if the world has any chance of meeting our collective Paris-aligned climate goals.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACS) are two technologies on the cusp of deployment at scale that can remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it permanently and safely. The technology is proven, developers are bringing forward projects, and the most forward-thinking companies are actively seeking to buy removal credits from BECCS and DACS developers.

Yet there’s a risk that the frameworks being developed in the voluntary carbon market could stifle rather than support the development of engineered carbon removals.

Drax is a world-leader in the deployment of bioenergy solutions. Our goal is to produce 12 million tonnes of high-integrity, permanent CO₂ removals by 2030 from its BECCS projects in the U.K. and the U.S. We support the development of rigorous standards for CO₂ removals that give purchasers confidence in the integrity of the CO₂ removals they’re buying. Such standards are also important in providing a clear framework for project developers to work to.

However, the market and its standards have largely developed around carbon reduction and avoidance credits, rather than removals. To create a market that can enable engineered carbon removals at scale, re-thinking is needed to create standards that are fit for purpose to tackle the climate emergency.

Core Carbon Principles

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market is in the process of developing a set of Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and Assessment Framework (AF) intended to set new threshold standards for high-quality carbon credits.

At Drax, we welcome and support the principals proposed by the Integrity Council. However, it’s crucial they’re applied in ways that are appropriate for engineered carbon removals, and support rather than prevent their development.

Many CCPs are directly applicable to engineered carbon removals and can offer important standards for projects developing removals technologies. Among the most important principals include those stating:

• Removals must be robustly quantified, with appropriate conservatism in any assumptions made.
• Key information must be provided in the public domain to enable appropriate scrutiny of the carbon removal activity, while safeguarding commercially sensitive information.
• Removal credits should be subject to robust, independent third-party validation and verification.
• Credits should be held in a registry which deals appropriately with removal credits.
• Registries must be subject to appropriate governance, to ensure their integrity without becoming disproportionately bureaucratic or burdensome.
• Removals must adhere to high standards of sustainability, taking account of impacts on nature, the climate and society.
• There should be no double counting of carbon removals between corporates, or between countries. Bearing in mind that both corporates and countries may count the same removals in parallel, and that the Article 6 mechanism means countries can decide whether trades between corporates should or shouldn’t trigger corresponding adjustments to countries’ carbon inventories.

However, as pioneers in the field, we believe that two of the Core Carbon Principles need to be adapted to the specific characteristics of engineered carbon removals.

Supporting additionality and development incentives

The CCPs state: “The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be additional, i.e., they would not have occurred in the absence of the incentive created by carbon credit revenues.”

Engineered carbon removal credits such as BECCS and DACS are by their nature additional. They are developed for the specific purpose of removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and putting it back in the geosphere. They also rely on revenue from carbon markets – largely the voluntary market at present, but potentially compliance markets such as the U.K. and E.U. ETS in the future.

However, most early projects are likely to have some form of Government support (e.g., 45Q in the U.S., or Contracts for Difference in the U.K.) from outside carbon credit revenues. But that support isn’t intended to be sufficient on its own for their deployment – project developers will be expected to sell credits in compliance or voluntary markets.

Engineered carbon removals have high up-front capital costs, and it’s clear that revenue from voluntary or compliance markets will be essential to make them viable.

Additionality assessments should be risk-based. If it’s clear that a technology-type is additional, a technology-level assessment should be sufficient. This should be supplemented with full transparency on any government support provided to projects.

Compensating against non-permanent storage

On the topic of permeance that CCPs state: “The GHG emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be permanent, or if they have a risk of reversal, any reversals shall be fully compensated.”  A key benefit of engineered carbon removals with geological storage is that they effectively provide permanent carbon removal. Any risk of reversal over tens of thousands of years is extremely small.

The risk of reversal for nature-based credits, by contrast, is much greater. Schemes for managing reversal risk in the voluntary carbon market that have been developed for nature-based credits, are not necessarily appropriate for engineered removals.

Requirements for project developers to set aside a significant proportion of credits generated in a buffer pool, potentially as much as 10%, are disproportionate to the real risk of reversal from a well-manged geological store. They also fail to take account of the stringent regulatory requirements for geological storage that already exist or are being put in place.

Any ongoing requirements for monitoring should be consistent with existing regulatory requirements placed on storage owners and operators. Similarly, where jurisdictions have robust regulatory arrangements for dealing with CO₂ storage risk, which place liabilities on storage owners, operators, or governments, the arrangements in the voluntary carbon market should mirror these arrangements rather than cutting across them, and no additional liabilities should be put on project developers.

At Drax, we believe the CCPs provide a suitable framework to ensure the integrity of engineered carbon removals. If applied pragmatically, they can give purchasers of engineered carbon removal credits confidence in the integrity of the product they’re buying and provide a clear framework for project developers. They can ensure that standards support, rather than stifle the development of high integrity carbon removal projects such as BECCS and DACS, which are essential to achieving our global climate goals.

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Key takeaways:

At Drax, we have a long-lasting commitment to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) education in the Yorkshire and Humber region and beyond.

Delivering the Zero Carbon Humber and the East Coast Cluster initiatives means that we will need a highly skilled labour force to help us reach the region’s goal of building the world’s first net zero industrial region. In practice, this will create roughly 50,000 new jobs in the region – requiring a workforce who are proficient in new and emerging low carbon technologies.

But investing time and resources into local education is about more than just preparing for the energy transition. It’s about working with our local communities to build a longer term support framework for them and helping to support social mobility from primary school upwards.

Businesses in education

We have a responsibility to be a good neighbour, support education in our local area, to help secure our talent pipeline, and provide inspiration.

Bruce Heppenstall Drax Plant Director, Lewis Marron, Drax 4th Year Apprentice, and Liz Ridley Deputy Principal at Selby College.

One way we’re helping to develop the next generation of green economy colleagues is through our partnership with nearby Selby College. In 2020, we announced a £180,000 five-year partnership with the college, aimed at supporting education and skills. Last year, we expanded our partnership even further and developed the UK’s first educational programmes dedicated to carbon capture.

Working together, we secured more than £270,000 in funding from the government for the programme, enabling the college to create a new training course in carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) technologies. Our engineers work closely with the college, developing a syllabus that will equip both current and future Drax employees with the vital skills needed to operate negative emissions technology.

This even includes a rig that mirrors the CCUS equipment used in our bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot, giving students the chance to work with real equipment rather than just the theory. We believe that by showing students the kind of work we do on-site we can give them a deeper understanding of how we operate.

The Department of Education highlighted the success of our partnership as an example of how business and education can work together – something I believe is crucial to bridging the emerging low carbon skills gap.

The skills gap and future STEM workers

Our work with Selby College has highlighted the significant need to educate and upskill the UK’s workforce in low carbon technologies as quickly as possible. Although most organisations recognise the need to decarbonise, they are uncertain about what they and their employees need to do to achieve this.

There are a lot of conversations about the need for green skills and re-skilling employees in carbon-intensive sectors but to put a real definition on what’s needed is a lot harder. Every company must examine its business plan and try to unpick what skills they will need in 10, 20, or even 50 years down the line – and in such a fast moving world this can prove to be a real challenge.

At Drax, we’re committed to building on our values, as an innovative and best in class place where we care about what matters. We aim to do this by identifying training needs that are linked with new technologies beyond just BECCS, and working together with educators to make sure the relevant courses can either be distributed to other SMEs and large companies or adapted to help retrain people in other sectors.

Our commitment to STEM and education starts with young people and a hands-on curriculum delivered by our engineers to help support teachers. We want to develop deeper, more impactful education programmes that offer them multiple interactions with Drax, our engineers and operations throughout a person’s education.

In my role, you don’t always see the immediate impact. However, when you start talking to people, you realise that you’ve impacted them at some stage on their career journey. That impact is what’s really important to us and to building a net zero Humber.

Find more information about our partnership with Selby College here.

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