UK using more wood to make electricity than ever, Drax figures show

Biomass provided almost a fifth of the UK’s electricity for the first time during one morning in September when renewable energy resources were particularly low. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Britain’s reliance on burning wood to generate electricity has reached record highs, even as the government moves to curb the controversial use of biomass power.

The latest figures supplied by the owner of the huge Drax biomass plant in North Yorkshire have revealed that power generated from burning biomass wood pellets provided 9% of the UK’s electricity in July, its largest ever monthly share.