Biomass (wood pellets, wood chips and agricultural residues) contributes more than half of renewable energy consumption in the EU, providing a clean, secure and competitive energy resource.

WORTHING, U.K., Jan.

By Alexandra Wood The developers of a new straw-pelleting plant at Goole are looking to process 100,000 tonnes from next year's harvest to burn at Drax, near Selby.It is estimated that within a 50 to 70 mile radius of Drax about two million tonnes of straw is produced as a result of cereal farming around half of which is ploughed back in as fertiliser.The straw will be processed into pellets to make it easier to transport the six miles to Drax.In a new 60m co-firing facility being built on site they willagain be broken up and injected into the furnaces along with the coal.The plant, currently under construction at Capitol Park, close to the M62, will produce enough energy to meet five per cent of Drax's biomass requirements of two million tonnes per year by 2010.A spokesman for the project said the development should be advantageous for cereal farmers: "Futures prices for cereals like wheat are quoted on the exchanges but it is difficult to find a price for straw because it's a bulky

By Mark Hughes Hundreds of riot police pushed back protesters at the Kingsnorth coal power station climate camp in Kent yesterday, as officers raided the site and made eight arrests. Kent Police seized four men aged between 24 and 45 for public order offences in dawn skirmishes.

By Michael McCarthy Environment Editor Green activists are vowing to force their way into one of Britain's biggest power stations next month in what will be the most serious clash yet between the burgeoning climate change protest movement and the authorities.