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One of Britain’s leading renewable energy companies is to use 1m tonnes of trees a year to make “sustainable” plane fuel.
Drax has agreed to help produce sustainable aviation fuel using biomass pellets, which are made from wood, after striking a multi-year partnership with US company Pathway Energy.
Will Gardiner, the chief executive of Drax, said: “This landmark deal has the potential to be the biggest third-party supply arrangement Drax’s pellet business has made.
“Demand for sustainable biomass is accelerating, with international businesses seeking long-term fuel supplies for a range of projects globally.”
The Drax power station – which runs on biomass – is currently at full tilt burning trees to make 7pc of the UK’s power as the country is gripped by low clouds and little wind in conditions known as dunkelflaute.
Drax insists its pellets are made from sawmill and forestry residue such as sawdust and branches, rather than the main part of trees that are felled.
The energy producer has previously been accused of burning wood from some of the world’s most precious forests after receiving £6bn in green subsidies.
Drax, which claims its pellets are “sustainable and legally harvested”, said it could supply over 1m tonnes of them for Pathway’s proposed sustainable aviation plant on the US Gulf Coast. The company added that it may ramp up its partnership with Pathway to deliver 2m more tonnes of pellets from trees through the 2030s.
Once Pathway’s plant is fully up and running, it will churn out as much as 30m gallons of sustainable aviation fuel annually.
This is enough to power 5,000 carbon-neutral, long-haul flights a year, Drax said in a statement. It also highlighted that sustainable aviation fuel is expected to deliver 65pc of the emissions reductions required for the sector to reach net zero by 2050.
Construction of the $2bn (£1.6bn) US plant will start early in 2026. It will begin operations in 2029.
Drax says it is the UK’s largest source of renewable electricity on the basis that the wood it burns is replaced by new trees that suck up CO2.
However, the power station has been widely criticised by green lobby groups, with Greenpeace UK accusing it of being the UK’s largest carbon emitter.
Mr Gardiner described the deal with Pathway as an “important step in the energy transition”.
He said: “Reaching heads of terms on this deal with Pathway is an important step in the energy transition and for decarbonising the aviation sector through sustainable aviation fuel production, which Drax is proud to be a part of.
“We also share Pathway’s aim of scaling bioenergy with carbon capture and storage to deliver the carbon removals that the world needs to fight climate change.”
Drax might become a strategic partner in the biofuel plant through a convertible $10m loan note, although it was yet to make a decision, it said.