Power producer Drax is scouting locations in the American pine belt to build electricity generators fueled by burning wood chips. The plan calls for constructing wood-fired power plants in parts of the U.S. South where pulp and paper mills have closed and left timber growers without buyers for those trees unfit for making lumber or poles. The plants’ exhaust will be piped underground instead of out of smokestacks, which generates lucrative carbon credits for which Drax is already lining up buyers. Plus, there’s the electricity. Technology companies are so eager to run their power-hungry AI data centers without fossil fuels. …Biomass power has long been dangled before Southern timberland owners as a potential solution to the glut of pine that has depressed prices and complicated harvests. …To sidestep concerns of the U.S. power plants contributing to deforestation, Drax plans to buy wood only from properties managed for timber production, not old-growth stands, Fitzmaurice said. [to access the full storey a WSJ subscription is required]