EU probes power plant for wrongdoing over switch from coal to biomass

Power trip

A UK power plant is under European Union (EU) investigation – for daring to partially switch to a potentially lower-carbon fuel.

Drax in North Yorkshire received state subsidy to burn biomass as well as coal. The EU is concerned this gives it an ‘unfair advantage’ over competing power stations!

The jury’s still out as to whether biomass is a genuinely eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. See ‘Can biomass energy be part of a socialist plan of production?’ at socialistparty.org.uk for more.

But if even this half-hearted measure is an unacceptable threat to the supreme rule of the free market, what chance have we got?

The Socialist says: nationalise all the energy firms under democratic workers’ control. For a mass programme of investment into green technology and infrastructure.

Burning money

Oxfam reports that between the 2010 Copenhagen and 2015 Paris climate conferences, the number of billionaires with interests in fossil fuel rose from 54 to 88. Their combined personal wealth has grown by about half in that time, from over $200 billion to more than $300 billion.