:00:00. > :00:00.Good evening and welcome to Inside Out.
:00:00. > :00:22.Good evening and welcome to Inside Out.
:00:23. > :00:25.Tonight, is Drax Power Station's conversion
:00:26. > :00:34.from coal to green biomass `ny worse for the environment?
:00:35. > :00:36.Should Drax stop its conversion programme?
:00:37. > :00:41.After the Scottish vote, should the North of England be
:00:42. > :00:50.asking for more autonomy to help us narroa the North South divide.
:00:51. > :00:52.Until recently, Drax Power Station near Selby was
:00:53. > :00:57.known as a serial polluter, pumping CO2 into the atmosphere
:00:58. > :01:00.They have been using governlent cash to move from burning coal
:01:01. > :01:07.Far from being a green policy, some people think that is
:01:08. > :01:16.For a million years man has burnt wood for heat and light,
:01:17. > :01:24.But now it's being used on an industrial scale to satisfy our
:01:25. > :01:27.need for low pollution, gredn energy and that's led to questions about
:01:28. > :01:35.Burning these forests is worse than coal in terms of the amount
:01:36. > :01:40.of carbon that is going to be put into the atmosphere.
:01:41. > :01:43.There are good ways of burning biomass and bad ways
:01:44. > :01:46.If you procure it from a sizeable source,
:01:47. > :02:00.The future of Drax Power St`tion relies on burning wood, what's
:02:01. > :02:06.Drax is Western Europe's largest power plant and it's working hard to
:02:07. > :02:09.lose the label of Britain's biggest pollutdr.
:02:10. > :02:13.That means burning less coal to generate electricity.
:02:14. > :02:16.And this is how it will happen, burning tonnes and tonnes
:02:17. > :02:24.To start with three of the six generating units in Drax
:02:25. > :02:35.I think it is important for the future of the UK, actually.
:02:36. > :02:40.We are one of the most efficient power stations and low on elissions
:02:41. > :02:45.If it remains a coal station, it will shut down next
:02:46. > :02:52.What biomass does is it turns us into a renewable power stathon,
:02:53. > :02:55.gives us a long`term future, preserves that 7% of generation for
:02:56. > :03:03.the UK, preserves jobs in Yorkshire and it is a good renewable.
:03:04. > :03:07.So far so good but an operation this large needs a lot of wood,
:03:08. > :03:13.according to some estimates as much as nine million tonnes everx year.
:03:14. > :03:17.That's nearly double the entire UK forestry output.
:03:18. > :03:21.So Drax has needed to look dlsewhere and that's meant going to the
:03:22. > :03:24.United States where they sax they have more than enough wood to meet
:03:25. > :03:35.Every half an hour 24 hours a day seven days a week,
:03:36. > :03:40.these biomass trains arrive from the Humber ports and from Tdesport.
:03:41. > :03:48.Most of the material does come from the US and to many people,
:03:49. > :03:51.cutting down trees in the States, shipping them here to Drax via the
:03:52. > :03:56.Humber ports is a long journey to justify us being carbon fridndly.
:03:57. > :04:05.We thought from the beginning there was no sense in us importing
:04:06. > :04:09.this biomass if we can't be confident it is a low carbon fuel.
:04:10. > :04:13.The only way you can know that is you have to measure the carbon cost
:04:14. > :04:16.from the forest or the field all the way through the supply chain,
:04:17. > :04:18.through any processing, through the shipping, right the way through the
:04:19. > :04:24.ports, trains to tracks, look at that compared to other ftels
:04:25. > :04:32.We know we deliver 80% savings relative to coal.
:04:33. > :04:35.Drax's conversion from coal to wood is all supported
:04:36. > :04:41.by public subsidy, but on the condition that it produces
:04:42. > :04:48.Drax needs to prove its bushness isn't harming the environment.
:04:49. > :04:54.With so much wood to source, Drax has to rely on contractors
:04:55. > :05:01.I've been invited to see part of the Drax wood pellet operation
:05:02. > :05:03.in the United States so I'm off to Savannah,
:05:04. > :05:11.Georgia to find out where the wood that's burnt here is coming from.
:05:12. > :05:15.This is a tree nursery ` part of one of the biggest operations
:05:16. > :05:25.Matthew Rivers from Drax is showing me how it works.
:05:26. > :05:29.This site is 85 acres and is producing ?60 million a year.
:05:30. > :05:33.The company running this nursery is called Plum Creek owns nearly 7
:05:34. > :05:37.million acres of wood across 19 states.
:05:38. > :05:42.It provides employment in some of the poorest areas of the USA
:05:43. > :05:45.and is proud of its commitment to the environment.
:05:46. > :05:50.Plum Creek is a main supplier to Drax.
:05:51. > :05:54.About 85% of our fuel is this raw matdrial.
:05:55. > :05:58.We are always looking to assess in our diligence upfront beford we sign
:05:59. > :06:04.up with the supplier and thdn on monetary verification afterwards.
:06:05. > :06:12.The harvest is within annual reliable cut.
:06:13. > :06:16.We're not moving into an arda where we will deplete the carbon stock.
:06:17. > :06:20.The forest is managed sustahnably and we can satisfy ourselves
:06:21. > :06:29.and external auditors that our fuel is generally sustainably sotrced.
:06:30. > :06:34.These trees play an important role in absorbing greenhouse gasds.
:06:35. > :06:38.But Drax insists what it's cutting down here is waste wood
:06:39. > :06:44.When Plum Creek's trees are bigger, they are harvested for sawmhlls to
:06:45. > :06:53.But the smaller or misshapen trees, called thinning, go for pellets
:06:54. > :07:00.We are sitting on our high`value saw logs.
:07:01. > :07:04.Nice clear wood, preferable in a sawmill.
:07:05. > :07:07.They are picked out and grown for their quality.
:07:08. > :07:10.There is waste in the forest as well, stuff you can't usd.
:07:11. > :07:22.It is waste material or bi`products of growing a sawn log.
:07:23. > :07:25.Of course the lumber industry has existed for
:07:26. > :07:30.centuries in the US ` Drax says all it's doing is buying up a cheap bi`
:07:31. > :07:37.product of this industry, that in the past has gone to paper lills.
:07:38. > :07:41.But for some there's a darkdr side to the biomass industry,
:07:42. > :07:47.which is worrying campaigners on both sides of the Atlanthc.
:07:48. > :07:51.We are at the edge of the rhver on the edge of the floodplahn.
:07:52. > :07:59.Drax stands accused of destroying hardwood natural forests in the USA
:08:00. > :08:07.Not just using waste wood but cutting down trees
:08:08. > :08:09.which environmentalists say should be protected.
:08:10. > :08:14.The biomass industry want you to see an artificial plantation th`t is
:08:15. > :08:20.They don't want you to see a natural forest like these
:08:21. > :08:24.hardwoods in part because anyone can look around here and say th`t there
:08:25. > :08:31.is a lot that wood be lost hf these are cut and burned for fuel.
:08:32. > :08:34.The southern environmental law centre isn't a lone voice
:08:35. > :08:40.Earlier this year 60 leading US scientists wrote to the British
:08:41. > :08:50.government urging it to reconsider its biomass policy.
:08:51. > :08:54.The easiest way to see what they're worried about is from the ahr.
:08:55. > :08:58.Some of these forests are ddscribed as endangered
:08:59. > :09:09.The forests below me under pressure an expanding from biomass
:09:10. > :09:30.Derb Carter shows me a largd area of cleared forest which he believes
:09:31. > :09:37.He claims this was recently cut down by one of Drax's main supplhers
:09:38. > :09:42.And just a few miles away from the clearing is
:09:43. > :09:45.a large pellet mill ` one of three operating in the rdgion.
:09:46. > :09:48.Derb Carter believes the trdes which are visible on the wood pile
:09:49. > :09:56.Historically, we have lost ` lot of this forest over many decades.
:09:57. > :10:02.We were just getting to a point where the loss was stabilishng.
:10:03. > :10:05.Now this industry is putting pressure on the forests
:10:06. > :10:08.and we are starting to see lore loss than we have been actually
:10:09. > :10:23.Having seen the forests of North Carolina from the air,
:10:24. > :10:35.Tim McCormick has been a river guide in the swamps for most of hhs life.
:10:36. > :10:42.There is not a lot of peopld round here that of these forests.
:10:43. > :10:45.They never consider doing anything but coming.
:10:46. > :10:48.It is the way people make money around here.
:10:49. > :10:50.The timber industry is to this place what
:10:51. > :10:57.It is the bread and butter `nd what makes a lot of money for people
:10:58. > :11:01.Environmentalists like Adam Macon believe the biomass industrx
:11:02. > :11:04.and its growing demand for pellets is a big factor
:11:05. > :11:15.They are sourcing what they are using, that power,
:11:16. > :11:20.They're sourcing from right here in the south, from our southern forest,
:11:21. > :11:26.from the forest that we relx on to protect us from the worst effects of
:11:27. > :11:29.climate change, that we relx on to improve water quality and wd rely on
:11:30. > :11:33.to providers habitat for all of the amazing diversity th`t exists
:11:34. > :11:41.It doesn't seem that Drax is taking that into account,
:11:42. > :11:48.the impacts of what they ard having here in the southern United States.
:11:49. > :11:51.As well as being a bio diversity hotspot, North Carolina is `lso the
:11:52. > :12:01.America is the largest exporter of wood pellets in the world.
:12:02. > :12:05.Enviva is another supplier tsed by Drax to source wood pelldts.
:12:06. > :12:10.This is its factory in Ahoskie North Carolina, along with
:12:11. > :12:13.Drax it was recently nominated by the Ecologist magazine as one
:12:14. > :12:19.Do we know for sure that hardwood like this is
:12:20. > :12:27.I understand that it is a major supplier of Drax.
:12:28. > :12:37.We know many of these hardwood trees will end up being burned
:12:38. > :12:41.Enviva insists it adheres to all state and national government
:12:42. > :12:47.In fact they were happy to show me around a wood pellet facility `
:12:48. > :12:51.not in North Carolina but just 30 miles or so across state
:12:52. > :12:57.It's a 24/7 operation turning trees into pellets
:12:58. > :13:04.It is the scale of this industry that is so striking.
:13:05. > :13:08.This one factory on its own produces half 1 lillion
:13:09. > :13:18.Enviva says all the wood here is low qualitx waste `
:13:19. > :13:25.The company says it's confident that the logging firms which supply it
:13:26. > :13:36.are acting responsibly and not depleting natural h`bitat.
:13:37. > :13:43.We have quite strict policids in place that we track to the land We
:13:44. > :13:47.know where it comes from, what happens, why every piece of fibre
:13:48. > :13:53.ended up on our lot and it didn t have a use in a sawmill. It is
:13:54. > :14:00.audited by third parties and we feel confident that what we are doing is
:14:01. > :14:09.sustainable for the convershon of the generation in counties like the
:14:10. > :14:13.UK. They are busy school of thought that says that you should bd going
:14:14. > :14:18.to your suppliers and saying we are strict about the criteria. The
:14:19. > :14:26.criticism is that you are not strict enough. We actually think wd are
:14:27. > :14:31.very strict. We have a 0 tolerance policy. If we find people do not
:14:32. > :14:39.comply with the best managelent practices, comply with endangered
:14:40. > :14:44.species act and the clean w`ter act, we will cut off the supplier. We
:14:45. > :14:52.have not had to do it very luch but we would do it definitely.
:14:53. > :14:56.These pellets will shortly begin their journey to Europe.
:14:57. > :15:15.evidence that we?ve collectdd and a list of questions to put to the
:15:16. > :15:19.In recent months, the UK government has also had questions to ask.
:15:20. > :15:22.It is spending hundreds of lillions of pounds subsidising Drax?s
:15:23. > :15:24.conversion from coal to biolass and has raised its own concdrns
:15:25. > :15:28.The government recently published its so`called ?Carbon Calculator?
:15:29. > :15:30.That said that in some instances burning trees for
:15:31. > :15:33.power could actually be worse for the environment than burning coal.
:15:34. > :15:46.Here at the RSPB it?s something they?re also concerned about.
:15:47. > :15:52.The report the government ptblished really confirmed something we have
:15:53. > :16:00.known for a long time, that there is a serious risk when we burn wood in
:16:01. > :16:05.power stations like Drax. It also said some sources are good for the
:16:06. > :16:08.climate, but the big problel is the government are not responding to the
:16:09. > :16:16.report by changing standards and making sure only good biomass is
:16:17. > :16:24.used. Should Drax stop its conversion programme? For now, yes.
:16:25. > :16:35.But back at Drax, they are `damant they have got it right. Biolass is
:16:36. > :16:40.working to reduce greenhousd gases. Anything you can do, you can do it
:16:41. > :16:44.in a good or bad way. We worked this out when we set up the strategy
:16:45. > :16:49.that the first thing we did was we went around the world and looked at
:16:50. > :16:52.what were the sustainabilitx standards for forestry and
:16:53. > :16:59.agriculture and we set what we considered to be the best standard,
:17:00. > :17:02.which set good requirements. The company has rejected claims that it
:17:03. > :17:09.is destroying valuable wetl`nd habitat like the area we were shown
:17:10. > :17:15.by campaigners in North Carolina. Some of the areas have wonddrful
:17:16. > :17:20.diverse wildlife, and those are carefully assessed and protdcted. We
:17:21. > :17:25.will only deal with pellet producers that produced biomass from `reas
:17:26. > :17:33.that are not protected, that are not defined as special habitats. To
:17:34. > :17:37.illustrate the concern, thex flew us over our area which had been cut
:17:38. > :17:48.down next to an area of protected habitat. Very little differdnce The
:17:49. > :17:53.question is, who made that definition? Where was the lhne drawn
:17:54. > :17:58.and must have been drawn by an expert. We as an industry whll try
:17:59. > :18:05.to be responsible but it is not our job to determine the law. From next
:18:06. > :18:08.April, the government is brhnging in new laws for the sourcing of
:18:09. > :18:14.biomass, mindful of habitat protection and carbon emisshons It
:18:15. > :18:20.is unclear how these will bd enforced 4000 miles away in the
:18:21. > :18:25.United States. But even thotgh the facility was opened by the Linister
:18:26. > :18:29.for climate change himself, he has declined repeated requests for an
:18:30. > :18:34.interview. There is continudd scientific debate about whether
:18:35. > :18:40.burning trees is better or worse than call for the environment. What
:18:41. > :18:45.is clear is that there is htge pressure for Drax to keep the lights
:18:46. > :18:46.on in the UK, and the company sees biomass is very much the future for
:18:47. > :18:54.this industrial giant. Well, it?s been said it will take
:18:55. > :18:58.the creation of a Northern lega city stretching from Liverpool to
:18:59. > :18:59.Newcastle to rebalance With Scotland likely to gain more
:19:00. > :19:11.power after the independencd vote, many feel it?s time
:19:12. > :19:13.for the Government to stop talking and act to ensure the North doesn?t
:19:14. > :19:16.fall further behind It?s a global hub that sucks in the
:19:17. > :19:28.brightest and best from all over But has it just become too big
:19:29. > :19:34.and powerful, leaving the North with Whitehall feels very far reloved
:19:35. > :19:43.from cities around the country. So is the North stuck
:19:44. > :19:45.on the slow train while Are we starting to generate
:19:46. > :19:53.the jobs needed to keep our brightest and best from heading
:19:54. > :19:58.to the already overheated c`pital? People think engineering is dying
:19:59. > :20:01.out, but there are so many jobs Working here, I?ve seen loads
:20:02. > :20:06.of opportunities I?ve never really It?s morning rush hour and H?m
:20:07. > :20:11.joining commuters I'm about to board a train to make
:20:12. > :20:18.a journey, that for many, is a symbol of the yawning gap
:20:19. > :20:25.between the North and London. I've joined Maurice Duffy, CEO of
:20:26. > :20:27.Blackswan, an international business Today he's off to Manchester
:20:28. > :20:36.to launch a new book. Anything between 2:30
:20:37. > :20:45.to 2:45. That's if it's on time, of course,
:20:46. > :20:48.and it doesn?t get delayed I?m guessing you could get to London
:20:49. > :20:52.in much the same time. I do Newcastle to London twhce
:20:53. > :20:55.a week and I can do that in 2:4 to three hours and that's
:20:56. > :20:58.an extra 120 miles longer. So we're chugging along
:20:59. > :21:04.on our transPennine journey, but many feel transport is just
:21:05. > :21:07.a symbol of what's holding ts back. People
:21:08. > :21:09.across the North were asked whether they agreed that the Governlent and
:21:10. > :21:12.Parliament were responsive to issues Manchester was the most
:21:13. > :21:20.positive with 21% agreeing. In Sheffield,
:21:21. > :21:24.that figure dropped to just 7%. Liverpool
:21:25. > :21:27.and Leeds were only marginally more positive at 8%, and in Hull
:21:28. > :21:34.and Newcastle the number was 14 . That's how little
:21:35. > :21:36.the North reckons London cares The Centre
:21:37. > :21:41.for Cities is an influential think I've come to meet
:21:42. > :21:46.its chief executive to find out how you go about bridging the g`p
:21:47. > :21:50.between London and the North. We talk to business and thex say
:21:51. > :21:57.if it's not London, it's New York. Usually second tier
:21:58. > :22:01.cities are a certain size, but with ours, Leeds and Manchester
:22:02. > :22:17.are not as big as you'd expdct. We would like to see not London
:22:18. > :22:21.shrinking but the second`tidr cities getting bigger.
:22:22. > :22:24.So is enough being done to rebalance England's economy?
:22:25. > :22:26.Around three quarters of people in Leeds and Newcastle belidve
:22:27. > :22:28.the location of Parliament in Westminster means political
:22:29. > :22:31.decisions are too focused on London in comparison to the rest of the UK.
:22:32. > :22:41.We would like to see more freedom for cities.
:22:42. > :22:45.Making sure that cities can decide far more how they can spend money on
:22:46. > :22:50.transport and skills. And if you're looking
:22:51. > :22:52.for evidence of bias in favour Spending on public transport in
:22:53. > :22:57.London amounts to ?5000 per head. Which leads many Northerners to
:22:58. > :23:02.question the sense of spendhng tens of billions on HS2 onlx to
:23:03. > :23:09.get people to London even qticker. Especially when you're stuck
:23:10. > :23:22.on the slow train. Getting Manchester and Leeds and
:23:23. > :23:28.Sheffield linked up better with public transport is hugely
:23:29. > :23:31.important. Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds have responded to the
:23:32. > :23:32.challenge set them by the Chancellor to compete more effectively with
:23:33. > :23:35.London. The cities want a 15`year transport
:23:36. > :23:46.infrastructure plan with It's great the five cities have come
:23:47. > :23:48.together to create a single plan that chimes with the plan I have set
:23:49. > :23:49.out. Cynics might say it?s easy to back
:23:50. > :23:52.such a plan But Scotland's no vote has
:23:53. > :23:57.reinforced the resentment of Yorkshire and the Humber has a
:23:58. > :24:01.population equivalent to Scotland's. Greater Manchester has almost
:24:02. > :24:04.as many as the whole of Walds. And Tyne and Wear is almost
:24:05. > :24:07.as big as Northern Ireland. Yet none of those English rdgions
:24:08. > :24:10.have anywhere near the same level of Many believe it's
:24:11. > :24:16.about time that changed. But back on the slow train ht
:24:17. > :24:19.could be decades before there's It?s 09:52,
:24:20. > :24:23.right? that?s nearly two hours to get
:24:24. > :24:31.from Newcastle to Leeds and we've Yes,
:24:32. > :24:34.at York the train was cancelled We hopped off
:24:35. > :24:36.and waited with the other p`ssengers 20 minutes later and we're
:24:37. > :24:40.on this train headed Look, this isn't some Northdrn
:24:41. > :24:48.whingeathon. Few believe the pavements of London
:24:49. > :24:51.are actually paved with gold. That?s what?s happened here
:24:52. > :25:02.at the Advanced Manufacturing Park on the border between Sheffheld
:25:03. > :25:06.and Rotherham. It's attracted 200 businessds,
:25:07. > :25:21.some small and some not so small. This is an innovative environment.
:25:22. > :25:24.Manufacturing is at a 20 ye`r high in this region.
:25:25. > :25:26.Performance Engineering Solttions was started up by Mike Maddock, an
:25:27. > :25:30.ex`Formula 1 racing team engineer and an entrepreneur from thd South.
:25:31. > :25:33.He hopes to expand fivefold in the next few years, if hd can get
:25:34. > :25:36.Today, his design team is working on a new high`tech golf putter
:25:37. > :25:39.and a factory cooling unit `s well as gear box for a wheelchair.
:25:40. > :25:48.70% of their design commisshons are for overseas clients.
:25:49. > :25:57.There has been a brain drain to the south but also out of the UK, and we
:25:58. > :26:04.need to stop that. It can provide more opportunities. London hs very
:26:05. > :26:07.busy, very big. I am from a mile down the road so it is great that I
:26:08. > :26:11.can be so close to home and be able to develop my skill set without
:26:12. > :26:19.moving further afield. I evdn looked at India and China at one point
:26:20. > :26:20.There is a huge shortage of engineers and the skills gap could
:26:21. > :26:25.stop the UK in its tracks. A hundred metres away they're
:26:26. > :26:29.working at fixing just that problem. The AMRC training centre has 40
:26:30. > :26:32.engineering apprentices with another 250 starting in September,
:26:33. > :26:33.all learning the skills they need for thd jobs
:26:34. > :26:43.they've already been guaranteed We spoke to two of the apprdntice is
:26:44. > :26:49.currently being trained as engineers. I applied to go to
:26:50. > :26:57.university but then this instead because I wanted the hands`on
:26:58. > :27:00.approach. The companies are small which is why most people have not
:27:01. > :27:05.heard of them but they can still take on apprentices.
:27:06. > :27:08.So they?ve got a bright futtre as engineers but at some st`ge they
:27:09. > :27:10.might need to travel farther afield for a job in another city.
:27:11. > :27:13.I?ve found that can be problematic anywhere across the North.
:27:14. > :27:18.We've been travelling now for 2 hours 45 minutes
:27:19. > :27:21.and we're sat outside Manchdster, we don?t know why.
:27:22. > :27:23.This train has travelled at an average of 60 miles an hour.
:27:24. > :27:26.That's a third as quickly as the one that goes
:27:27. > :27:30.Finally, journey's end and time to s`y
:27:31. > :27:33.farewell to Maurice who'll be back on the same slow train very soon.
:27:34. > :27:36.But it gives me a chance to see an example of how moving out
:27:37. > :27:39.of London can create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions
:27:40. > :27:43.It was such an opportunity they even moved the most famous street in the
:27:44. > :28:00.What the BBC and ITV have done here is they have helped bring slaller
:28:01. > :28:02.media Enterprises year and created a hub.
:28:03. > :28:05.Media City is a 200 acre site which straddles the canal
:28:06. > :28:08.between Salford and Trafford, it's said to be the largest facility
:28:09. > :28:11.of its type in Europe and it came about through a political ddcision
:28:12. > :28:22.But this is just one small part of the jigsaw and it'll takd
:28:23. > :28:25.a lot more political will to move power and money from London to
:28:26. > :28:28.the North and enable our grdat cities to compete with the capital
:28:29. > :28:31.Scotland might have said no to independence
:28:32. > :28:45.And just south of the border that hasn't gone unnoticed.
:28:46. > :28:51.That's all for tonight but lake sure you join us next week. We'll be
:28:52. > :28:55.meeting some of the soldiers struggling to cope after serving in
:28:56. > :29:00.Afghanistan, healing the incredible story of the Chatsworth ban`na and
:29:01. > :29:07.visiting two cities vying for the title of city of ale.
:29:08. > :29:09.Hello, I'm Sam Naz with your 90-second update.
:29:10. > :29:12.14-year-old Alice Gross went missing three weeks ago.
:29:13. > :29:14.Today, police carried out a finger-tip search of
:29:15. > :29:19.600 officers, from eight forces, are working on the case.
:29:20. > :29:23.It has overestimated its profits by a quarter of a billion pounds.
:29:24. > :29:30.A new focus for Thai police looking into
:29:31. > :29:35.They plan to test the DNA of every man on the island where David Miller
:29:36. > :29:39.It is thought they were attacked by two Asian men.
:29:40. > :29:42.Arranging a sham gay wedding to get someone UK citizenship.
:29:43. > :29:47.A BBC investigation has found gangs will organise it for ?10,000.