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Drax Power Station

Question for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

UIN HL9759, tabled on 4 September 2023

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 27 July (HL9538), in what ways was the Panorama on Drax (1) accurate, and (2) inaccurate, in its representation of practices by the forestry and biomass sector.

Answered on

18 September 2023

After speaking to Canadian experts and reviewing various sources of information about forestry and harvesting in Canada and British Columbia, officials advised that the Panorama programme presented a useful overview of forestry and biomass practices. They advise that the narrative would have benefited from a fuller picture about how harvesting decisions are made in practice, more detail on the operation of the harvest licensing regime, more clarity on how the grading system is used for wood products and biomass materials, and clearer evidence supporting claims about the use of wood pellets in the UK.