CAMPAIGNERS have urged the government not to fund new artificial intelligence data centres powered by tree-burning at Drax in a joint letter to Science Secretary Peter Kyle.

Sixty-three organisations, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, said the plan would back Britain’s biggest carbon emitter.

Drax, with North Yorkshire Council and the University of York, has applied to be an “AI Growth Zone” — a new government initiative.

Last month, MPs voted to use energy bills to extend Drax’s subsidies, despite previous ministerial promises that it would only operate at a 27 per cent load factor.

Drax claims it will become a “clean energy and AI campus” through carbon capture.

But campaigners say the technology is unproven at scale and recent layoffs at Drax-backed C-Capture show progress is stalling.

Last year, Drax emitted over 13 million tonnes of CO2 and burned 7.3 million tonnes of wood, much from biodiverse forests overseas.

BBC investigations found it still sources from primary forests.

Merry Dickinson from the Stop Burning Trees Coalition said: “Using Drax to power a data centre would be another broken promise and spell disaster for forests, communities and our planet.”

“Our future will not be built on burning trees, we need real green jobs for Yorkshire and across the UK that put workers and communities first.”

Claire James from the Campaign Against Climate Change said: “This summer’s heatwaves are just a small foretaste of what we can expect if we don’t reduce global emissions urgently.

“Meanwhile, Labour is gambling on AI as an economic fix — but they are also gambling with the climate because of AI’s high energy demand.

“The government is well aware that burning wood for power is highly polluting, and they should also know that Drax’s carbon capture promises are vague and implausible.

“Burning trees as fuel cannot be the future, it should be firmly put in the past.”

Ellen Robottom from the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Justice Coalition said: “Using bioenergy from Drax to power a data centre would result in a devastating combination of long-term lock-in of a power source known to be highly polluting, and a massive increase in the requirement for power, making it impossible to meet the government's stated aim to decarbonise the power system.”

Katy Brown from Biofuelwatch said: “There will be nothing clean or green about this venture, it will be another income stream for Drax to continue harming forests, wildlife, communities and forests and a distraction from the transition to genuinely renewable, non-emissive energy sources.”