Each year £1 billion in tax payers money is spent on subsidising wood incineration. Subsidies designed for sustainable energy are instead diverted to burning wood pellets, which release as much CO2 as anthracite coal. These wood pellets are often imported from other countries, which increases the emissions further.

That's an average of £38 per household being spent on subsidising this high-carbon electricity.

Burning biomass to generate electricity damages forests and biodiversity, pollutes communities in source countries and at the point of generation and worsens climate change.

If we are to limit catastrophic damage from climate change, then we must take serious action now to stop these wasteful subsidies. 

We call on the Government to:

• follow the logic of its recent decision effectively to end new subsidy for large-scale import-dependent biomass under Contracts for Difference
• remove subsidy for biomass under the Renewable Obligation scheme
• instead direct funding towards renewable, low-carbon electricity sources including solar and wind.

References: The standard measure for CO2 from coal can be found on page 230 from this link: 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/736148/DUKES_2018.pdf
The CO2 from burning wood can be seen in tables 2 and 3 in the following link: 
https://futuremetrics.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CO2-from-Wood-and-Coal-Combustion.pdf