Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average age of trees used to produce wood pellets for the Drax power station is; and what estimate he has made of how long it takes before the replacement trees will sequester carbon at the same rate as those felled.

BEIS does not hold this information. The UK only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria. Suppliers must demonstrate to the regulators (Ofgem) that they meet the criteria, and their evidence is independently audited. Ofgem make sustainability information publicly available on their website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20.