ACTIVISTS urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to ditch Drax power station on Valentine’s Day today after the government pledged to keep funding Britain’s biggest carbon emitter.

Campaigners dressed in pink and red gathered outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London to protest against the decision.

Demonstrations also took place in Leeds, Tyneside and Nottingham.

The wood-burning power plant is granted subsidies for its alleged sustainability and has received £7 billion of public money since 2012.

Last week, the government decided to extend subsidies for Drax from 2027 through to 2031, which is expected to cost taxpayers at least £1.8bn.

Protesters have condemned the decision, pointing to the environmental damage from overseas logging and the high emissions from burning wood pellets.

The day before the announcement, the BBC revealed that Drax had failed once again to report that it had burned wood from untouched primary forests.

Last year, regulator Ofgem fined the company £25m after an investigation found it did not accurately report the origin of its wood pellets.

Sally Clark, bioenergy campaigner for Biofuelwatch, said: “If the government is serious about tackling the climate emergency and the cost-of-living crisis, it should be investing in genuine climate solutions like home insulation or wind and solar power, not sending our futures up in smoke by funding big polluters like Drax.”

Merry Dickinson, lead campaigner for the Stop Burning Trees Coalition, said: “This decision will drive us closer to climate chaos and result in vital forests being destroyed while putting an added burden on billpayers. 

“Using our money to fund forest destruction, pollution and the profits of Drax’s shareholders is a disgrace.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “This new deal will halve the amount of support for Drax, save money on people’s energy bills and contribute to energy security. The deal includes a new windfall mechanism to recover excess profits and ensure fair prices.

“We’ve introduced tough new sustainability measures with clear, enforceable standards. Drax will need to use 100 per cent sustainably sourced biomass — up from 70 per cent — and not a penny of subsidy will be paid for non-compliant biomass.”