{"query_echo":{"q":"","filters":{"analysis_type":["emissions ranking"]},"warnings":[{"code":"facet_value_not_in_vocabulary","message":"Value 'emissions ranking' for facet 'analysis_type' is not in the controlled vocabulary."}]},"total":{"value":2,"relation":"eq"},"page":1,"page_size":20,"self":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/api/v1/search?analysis_type=emissions+ranking","stability":"beta","ai_marking":{"digital_source_type":{"uri":"http://cv.iptc.org/newscodes/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicMedia","name":"Created using Generative AI"},"notice":"Summary and key insights are generated using artificial intelligence."},"results":[{"id":"ember-000238","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/ember-000238","title":"Drax is still the UK' s largest emitter","publisher":{"name":"Ember","organization":"ember"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2025-07-17","source_url":"https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Drax-is-still-the-UKs-largest-emitter.pdf","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"Drax power station is the UK's largest carbon emitter, with 2024 emissions of 13.3 million tonnes of CO2e, a 16% increase over the previous year. Despite the complete phase-out of coal power in September 2024, biomass and gas plants continue to dominate the top emitter rankings. Drax is projected to remain the largest emitter through 2030, even with planned subsidy cuts starting in 2027. Other significant emitters include Port Talbot Steelworks and Pembroke gas power station, while carbon capture deployment across the UK's largest industrial sites has seen limited progress.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Drax power station is the UK's largest single source of carbon dioxide, emitting 13.3 million tonnes of CO2e in 2024, which represents a 16% increase from the previous year.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The emissions from Drax are larger than those of the six most polluting gas power plants combined and exceed 10% of the UK's total transport emissions.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Drax is expected to remain the UK's largest emitter until 2030, despite a government decision in February 2025 to reduce biomass subsidies by approximately half for a four-year period starting in April 2027.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The UK's coal power phase-out was completed in September 2024 with the closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant, which had been the fifth largest emitter in 2023.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Port Talbot Steelworks remained the second largest emitter in the UK with 3.4 MtCO2e, despite a 40% drop in annual emissions following the cessation of production on September 30, 2024.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Gas power plants represent the most frequent entries in the top 25 emitters list (13 facilities), although total gas generation fell to a 25-year low of 84 TWh (30% of total generation) in 2024.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Progress on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) has been slow; the government has admitted its target of 20-30 MtCO2e/year by 2030 is unachievable.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Lynemouth biomass power station is the 12th largest emitter in the UK, emitting approximately 1.7 MtCO2e, and re-entered the top 25 emitters for the first time since 2021 due to increased generation supported by Contract for Difference subsidies.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000238#insight-8","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["carbon dioxide emissions","Coal phase-out","gas-fired power station","Industrial decarbonization","energy transition","bio-energy with carbon capture and storage"],"geography_discussed":[],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["emissions ranking","policy assessment"]},{"id":"ember-000496","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/ember-000496","title":"The largest emitters in the UK: annual review","publisher":{"name":"Ember","organization":"ember"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2024-08-09","source_url":"https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-largest-emitters-in-the-uk-annual-review","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report identifies Drax power station as the UK's largest single CO2 emitter in 2023, emitting 11.5 million tonnes of CO2. It highlights that power stations, steelworks, and refineries are the primary sources of emissions, with the power sector accounting for 12% of total UK emissions. The document criticizes the use of biomass for power generation, arguing that the assumption of carbon neutrality is flawed and that the sector's reliance on imports creates energy security risks. It suggests that energy security can be achieved through the rapid deployment of cheaper renewables, energy storage, and grid upgrades rather than through subsidies for large emitters.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Drax power station is the largest single source of CO2 in the UK, emitting 11.5 million tonnes (Mt) in 2023, which is equivalent to 2.9% of total UK territorial emissions. Its emissions exceed those of the next four largest power stations combined and are more than four times the emissions of the Ratcliffe on Soar coal power plant, which emitted 2.7 MT CO2e.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Power stations, steelworks, and refineries are the dominant sources of emissions. The power sector accounts for 12% of total UK emissions, while refineries and steelworks combined account for 5%. UK power sector emissions have decreased by 78% since 1990, partly due to a 6% drop in electricity demand over the same period.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The use of biomass for power generation is criticized as a 'risky gamble' because the assumption that emissions are offset by forest regrowth is considered critically flawed. Drax received an estimated £539 million in subsidies for 2023 and a total of £6.5 billion in public funding from 2002 to 2023.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The UK's large biomass power sector poses an energy security risk due to its high dependence on imports; Drax consumed 5.8 million tonnes of wood biomass in 2023, none of which was sourced in the UK. This is nearly 20 times the UK's domestic pellet production of 0.3 million tonnes.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Decarbonization of large industry is being pursued through electrification, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen. For example, an electric arc furnace was granted planning permission at Teesside steelworks in early 2024, and the government identified two CCS clusters through 'track 1' and 'track 2' processes.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ember-000496#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["carbon dioxide emissions","renewable energy","carbon capture and storage","electrification","energy security","emission trading","iron and steel industry","wind power","solar energy"],"geography_discussed":["Port Talbot","Scunthorpe","Fawley","Pembroke","Stanlow","Teesside"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["annual review","emissions ranking"]}]}