Anti-biomass campaigners lobby Scottish Government

MSPs joined campaign groups outside Holyrood yesterday to protest against public subsidies for wood-burning power plants.

The demonstration involving Biofuelwatch, No Leith Biomass Campaign, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Grangemouth Community Council urged the Scottish Government to take action on biomass power plants.

Campaigners said companies such as Forth Energy are set to receive about £170 million of public money every year for proposed biomass power stations in Dundee, Rosyth and Grangemouth. Forth Energy withdrew plans for a station in Leith in February. Ayrshire Power, which proposes to build a coal and biomass power station at Hunterston, stands to gain over £91 million a year from “co-firing” biomass if its project is approved, claimed campaigners.