From the carbon demon to energy angel

Today, thanks to a commitment to innovation, the business is on track to becoming the single largest renewable energy plant in the UK.

By turning itself into a mainly biomass-fuelled generator, Drax aims to provide renewable power for years to come.

As the long-standing sponsor of the Innovation category at the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards, Drax is doing its bit to honour our region’s creative thinkers.

Peter Emery, the production director at Drax, is proud of the fact that the company recently picked up a Big Tick award from Business in the Community for its commitment to responsible business practice.

The award recognised Drax’s efforts to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by substantially increasing the amount of biomass burnt at the power station in place of coal. Ms Thompson was also awarded the Green Champion award at this year’s Yorkshire Post Environment Awards.

“We’ve spent time looking at what we put back into the community,’’ said Mr Emery. “We felt that flying the flag for the innovation agenda in this region was really important.”

In the case of Drax, innovation is being driven by commercial necessity and the need to do something to address the threat of global warming, said Mr Emery. Drax’s move from coal to biomass has required enormous change. Drax will soon be burning around 7-8m tonnes of biomass a year, and it is expected to be contributing around 10 per cent towards the Government’s clean energy targets for 2020.

“In the power sector, Yorkshire is a hotbed of innovation,’’ said Mr Emery, highlighting projects in our region linked to biomass, wind energy and carbon capture. “The Government is doing quite a lot to encourage entrepreneurship,’’ said Mr Emery. “There has been a realisation that the country cannot run on financial services alone.”

The other main awards categories are:

Companies with a turnover up to £10m, sponsored by Yorkshire Bank.

Companies with a turnover between £10m and £50m, sponsored by PwC.

Companies with a turnover above £50m, sponsored by DLA Piper

Young business, sponsored by Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses programme, for companies up to three years old

Outstanding employer, sponsored by Bradford University School of Management, for excellent employment practices

Exporter of the Year, sponsored by thebigword, for companies that have made progress in overseas markets

Community, sponsored by QBE Insurance, for businesses actively working in the community to enhance education and skills development

SME Manufacturer, sponsored by Elevation Recruitment, for companies with a turnover up to £10m

Young Entrepreneur of the Year, for owner managers and directors aged 35 and under

Individual award, sponsored by The Yorkshire Post.

Plusnet is sponsoring the social media part of this year’s awards.

Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, is the headline speaker at this year’s awards. The former leader of the Conservative Party is behind the Government’s efforts to reform the welfare state and get more people back into work.