:00:00. > :00:10.Two big green energy projects have of the UK is governed.
:00:11. > :00:13.Two big green energy projects have been given the go` ahead in
:00:14. > :00:17.Yorkshire. A new wind farm will be built off the coast, and part of
:00:18. > :00:20.Europe's largest power station, Drax near Selby, will stop burning coal
:00:21. > :00:24.and use biomass to make electricity instead. The government says
:00:25. > :00:27.hundreds of jobs will be created. But electricity bills will go up and
:00:28. > :00:32.Drax is disappointed that it's only got funding for one biomass unit,
:00:33. > :00:39.not two. It's starting legal action against the government. Our
:00:40. > :00:42.political editor Len Tingle reports. For more than four decades, Drax has
:00:43. > :00:46.dominated the North Yorkshire skyline with its distinctive 12
:00:47. > :00:51.cooling towers seen for miles. But what is coming out of them is just
:00:52. > :00:56.harmless steam. What is jeopardising the future here are its six giant
:00:57. > :01:01.electricity generators. Until recently each one of them powered by
:01:02. > :01:04.coal. That made Drax here the biggest single polluter in Europe
:01:05. > :01:11.and because of that its days were numbered. It simply had to do
:01:12. > :01:15.something about it. And that something is this. Wood and other
:01:16. > :01:19.biofuels are much cleaner but far more expensive. It can only be made
:01:20. > :01:22.to pay with subsidies from the taxpayer. But today the government
:01:23. > :01:25.said there has been enormous pressure to fund other schemes, so
:01:26. > :01:31.Drax was getting only half the subsidy it expected. We had 57
:01:32. > :01:36.applications when we started this process. So there is a lot of
:01:37. > :01:40.competition for these contracts. Many of these energy companies have
:01:41. > :01:43.invested a lot of money to get to this stage. Offshore wind farms,
:01:44. > :01:46.including one here in the North Sea off the Humber, are among the other
:01:47. > :01:50.seven schemes given full subsidies today. Shares in the companies
:01:51. > :01:55.running them have risen on the news. Back at Drax the opposite has
:01:56. > :01:58.happened. There was no word from the management here today. In a
:01:59. > :02:02.statement it said it was confident that it had a case to get the
:02:03. > :02:06.government to change its mind by going to court, but if that doesn't
:02:07. > :02:14.work it sees this as a slow`down in its long`term plans to reduce
:02:15. > :02:17.pollution, rather than the end. Joining us now is environmental
:02:18. > :02:25.campaigner Simon Bowens, from Friends of the Earth. Two issues.
:02:26. > :02:31.Let's deal with the wind farm. How do you react to that? The news on
:02:32. > :02:34.the wind farm Israeli positive. We know we can generate about 40% of
:02:35. > :02:40.our electricity from offshore wind by the end of the next decade. This
:02:41. > :02:45.is a really good boost to the industry and much needed. Can you
:02:46. > :02:50.decide what biomass is? Many people might not clearly understand that.
:02:51. > :02:55.The biomass plans that Drax entail taking timber from US forests,
:02:56. > :03:01.shipping them across the Atlantic, putting them through and making them
:03:02. > :03:07.into pellets and burning them in the furnaces that Drax to create
:03:08. > :03:13.electricity. So what is wrong with using timber rather than coal?
:03:14. > :03:19.Basically what we are seeing in the US is there are vast acres of these
:03:20. > :03:23.southeastern United States Whitland forest being cut to turn into wood
:03:24. > :03:31.pellets. That is completely unsustainable. `` wetland forest. We
:03:32. > :03:35.need proper solutions to climate change and burning biomass is not
:03:36. > :03:41.one of them. Mixed feelings all round here? Absolutely, yes. The
:03:42. > :03:45.plans at Drax are unsustainable. What it will do is drive up carbon
:03:46. > :03:47.emissions from Drax, rather than driving them down. Thank you for
:03:48. > :03:50.joining us. The number of deaths on North
:03:51. > :03:53.Yorkshire's roads has risen to a seven`year high. Latest figures show
:03:54. > :03:57.there were 51 fatal crashes last year, which is a 65% increase on the
:03:58. > :04:00.year before. Meanwhile motorcyclist deaths have gone up by 220% to 16.
:04:01. > :04:05.The number of crashes involving death and serious injury had been
:04:06. > :04:09.going down since 2009. Police have responded by increasing surveillance
:04:10. > :04:13.and putting up warning signs. The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust is
:04:14. > :04:17.planning to employ 60 nurses from Spain in the next six months as part
:04:18. > :04:20.of a recruitment drive. The Trust ` which runs hospitals in Dewsbury,
:04:21. > :04:23.Wakefield and Pontefract ` has allocated more than ?1 million to
:04:24. > :04:34.increase the number of permanent nursing staff on some wards. The
:04:35. > :04:37.hospitals will also hold open days in this country to attract more
:04:38. > :04:39.nurses, midwives and health care assistants.
:04:40. > :04:42.Cyclists have criticised plans to charge for the traditional team
:04:43. > :04:46.presentation event ahead of the Tour de France Yorkshire leg. This is the
:04:47. > :04:48.night when the teams show off their riders and their bikes and
:04:49. > :04:52.traditionally it's been a free event. But in Leeds organisers are
:04:53. > :04:57.turning the event into a show at Leeds Arena, with tickets between
:04:58. > :05:02.?45 and ?85 each. Here's our Tour de France correspondent, Matt Slater.
:05:03. > :05:07.As Harry Enfield once put it, "Sophistication? I've been to
:05:08. > :05:10.Leeds." It was advice the BBC took last year when it held Sports
:05:11. > :05:17.Personality of the Year at the First Direct Arena. A night of glitz,
:05:18. > :05:20.glamour and Gary. The organisers of Yorkshire's Grand Depart must have
:05:21. > :05:25.been watching because it's the model for their opening ceremony on
:05:26. > :05:29.Thursday, three July. But do cycling fans want that much sophistication?
:05:30. > :05:33.Otley's mother and son tandem team Vanessa and Oliver were looking
:05:34. > :05:37.forward to something more modest. I was really, really disappointed.
:05:38. > :05:41.I've been out to France a couple of times to watch the finale of the
:05:42. > :05:45.Tour de France. It was something I was really looking forward to taking
:05:46. > :05:50.my son to see. And at ?45`85, it is a little bit out of reach
:05:51. > :05:54.financially. It will be a massive show, the biggest in the history of
:05:55. > :05:57.the Tour de France. 13,500 at Leeds Arena, it will be massive, much
:05:58. > :06:02.bigger than anything else that has happened before. There will be 300
:06:03. > :06:05.seats at ?85, the others are a similar price to Sports Personality
:06:06. > :06:12.of the Year and there will be 1,000 seats going free to schoolchildren.
:06:13. > :06:16.If sweeping lights, soaring vocals and sharp suits are your thing,
:06:17. > :06:25.tickets go on general sale on Friday. If you prefer bike racing,
:06:26. > :06:28.well, that is still free. Finally, it's the eve of the
:06:29. > :06:31.Harrogate Spring Flower Show, one of the country's best`rated gardening
:06:32. > :06:34.events. Around 1,000 exhibitors have been preparing their displays at the
:06:35. > :06:35.Yorkshire Showground. Some of the gardeners this year have been taking
:06:36. > :06:52.inspiration from the Tour de France. Let's have the weather prospects.
:06:53. > :06:58.You almost look intelligent and night! Not too sunshine, one of two
:06:59. > :07:02.showers breaking out. A different story on Friday as an easterly
:07:03. > :07:06.brings low cloud and patchy rain especially later in the day. A wet
:07:07. > :07:11.night developing out there, outbreaks of rain spreading north
:07:12. > :07:16.eastwards. Clearing later. Mist and low Falque by dawn. Eight or nine
:07:17. > :07:21.Celsius. `` mist Wadlow fogged by dawn. Some sunny spells for most of
:07:22. > :07:25.us on Thursday, one or two showers are possible especially through the
:07:26. > :07:32.course of the afternoon. Quite pleasant. Temperatures around
:07:33. > :07:33.15`16d. That is it from me and a very intelligent looking Harry. A
:07:34. > :07:34.summary of very intelligent looking Harry. A
:07:35. > :07:40.summary of tomorrow's weather and weekend doesn't look grey. Here's
:07:41. > :07:46.Nick Miller with the national outlook.
:07:47. > :07:52.The weather is going downhill, and here is why. Weekend weather
:07:53. > :07:56.developments are now to the south-west of us, low-pressure
:07:57. > :07:59.forming, and this has the weekend whether written all over it. But
:08:00. > :08:06.first to the weather front we have now. Still some heavy bursts, maybe
:08:07. > :08:11.with a rumble of thunder, but clear spells developing in Northern
:08:12. > :08:15.Ireland, Wales and the south-west. Perhaps just a slight ground frost
:08:16. > :08:25.here and there. More significantly, mist and fog forming. And even in
:08:26. > :08:28.the London area, it is possible. Bear that in mind if you have an
:08:29. > :08:30.early journey. If it affects travel, you can hear about it on your BBC
:08:31. > :08:31.local