f Welsh Government’s Department for Economy, Skills & Natural Resources Briefing: Cardiff University’s Expertise to Help Address the Challenges to Creating a CO2 Circular Economy for Wales

Through its “Reducing Carbon whilst Creating Social Value: How to get Started’ initiative, Welsh Government is keen to explore whether a ‘circular economy’ (and industry) could be developed for Wales for CO2.
Although most companies have targets to reduce their CO2 by 2030, Wales does not have the space to store or bury any excess, with the current choice to ship or ‘move the problem’ elsewhere. Meanwhile, other industry sectors in Wales are experiencing shortages of CO2, e.g., food production.
Net Zero commitments will require dealing with CO2 emissions from agricultural and industrial sectors and from the production of blue and grey hydrogen during the transition time of switching to green hydrogen. Sequestration and shipping off of CO2 could be costly, are not currently possible at large scale and are not sustainable. The use of CO2 by industry, e.g., in construction materials and in food production processes can play a major role in addressing CO2 waste production from grey and blue hydrogen.
In a Cradle-to-Cradle approach, everything has a use. Is Wales missing out on creating and developing a new, innovative industry around a CO2 circular economy?