OPPONENTS of plans for a wood-fuelled biomass plant at Trecwn have launched a petition against what they call and “inefficient and dirty power station”.

Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth is aiming to halt the Green Investment Bank providing funding for the project, given planning permission by Pembrokeshire County Council in March.

Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth objected to the planning application because of concerns about air pollution and inefficiency.

A spokesman for the group, Eleanor Clegg, said: “The developer admits that the power station would only be 26% efficient in its current form; 74% of the energy in the fuel would be wasted. This would not help to cut carbon dioxide emissions. It’s more like fiddling while Rome burns.

“The power station would threaten the health of local residents with air pollution. Burning virgin wood is about as polluting as burning coal but this plant might also burn chemically treated waste wood, which is even dirtier.

“Last year, 60 eminent US scientists wrote a letter to the UK Secretary of State for Energy and

Climate Change warning him that burning trees to produce electricity actually increases carbon

emissions compared with fossil fuels for many decades and contributes to other air pollution

problems.

“Although the company has obtained planning permission, it needs to raise tens of millions of

pounds in order to build the power station. Experience with similar proposals suggests that they will

find this difficult, unless the Green Investment Bank steps in to help. The Bank is publicly owned and

funded and should only finance clean, low-carbon energy projects.

“We do not believe that this proposed development is clean or low-carbon and we are urging people

to sign our online petition on www.foepembrokeshire.co.uk calling on the Bank not to fund it.”