The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire faces a criminal prosecution hearing after allegations that dust from wood pellets used to generate electricity could pose a risk to its employees’ health. The company has earned… subsidies by upgrading its generating units to burn biomass pellets instead of coal, but the Health and Safety Executive has raised concerns that the wood dust may have threatened employee health. Drax will appear at Leeds magistrates court on 30 November to face the allegations as well as a separate charge that it breached risk assessment obligations… at the plant. A spokesperson for the company [said], “The health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is a priority”. …The charges have reignited criticism of Drax’ biomass strategy from environmentalists, who say burning wood pellets risks wasting multimillion pound subsidies and fuelling the climate crisis.