South West Wales’s 90 breweries emit two to three times the CO₂ they need during fermentation, then buy expensive, unstable external supplies to carbonate their beer. This creates a costly, unsustainable cycle for family-owned microbreweries that anchor the region’s £800 million drinks industry. Existing carbon capture systems are too large and energy-hungry for small businesses. Ventrix Labs has built a modular, ultra-low-energy unit that bolts onto existing brewery equipment or nearby buildings, capturing up to 30 tonnes of CO₂ per year using waste energy already present on site. If the technology works at scale, it could turn each brewery into its own CO₂ supplier—cutting emissions, stabilising supply chains, and slashing operating costs. The project will test technical and commercial feasibility in breweries, then explore replication across other emission-intensive SMEs. Success in South West Wales would create a decentralised regional CO₂ network, reduce reliance on imported gas, and provide a replicable blueprint for industrial decarbonisation that strengthens local economic resilience without disrupting core business operations.
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The global industrial sector contributes approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) responsible for 60--70% of these emissions (OECD, 2022). In the UK, small- and mid-sized industries face significant challenges in implementing cost-effective emissions reduction solutions. This issue is especially critical in South West Wales (SWW), home to over 90 breweries, predominantly micro and small-scale, family-owned enterprises essential to the region's £800 million drinks industry. These breweries emit two to three times the CO2required during fermentation processes while also relying on unstable, expensive external CO2 supply chains, creating an unsustainable financial cycle and considerable supply chain risks. The Welsh government emphasizes the urgent need to support SME decarbonisation, recognizing their limited resources, knowledge, and financial capacity (Feb, 2025). Additionally, the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) highlights the strategic importance of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), particularly in Carmarthenshire, Neath-Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, and Swansea, regions with significant direct emissions. Traditional carbon capture technologies are too large, costly, and energy-intensive for SMEs. Ventrix Labs addresses this critical market gap with an innovative modular, ultra-low-energy carbon capture solution that capitalizes on waste energy available in existing building infrastructures. Ventrix's system integrates directly onto subsystems like those in breweries, or seamlessly into non-process buildings, such as offices on industrial sites, enabling efficient, cost-effective CO2 capture without disrupting core business operations. Each modular unit captures up to 30 tonnes of CO2 annually, simultaneously reducing emissions and ensuring a secure, onsite CO2 supply for breweries and beyond. In collaboration with an industry partner and an academic institution, Ventrix Labs aims to validate the technical and commercial feasibility of their modular carbon capture technology, initially focused on breweries. This demonstration will examine scalability and replication potential across diverse emission-intensive SMEs, creating a secure, resilient, and decentralized regional CO2 supply chain. The widespread adoption of Ventrix's modular technology can significantly enhance demand for decentralised CO2transport infrastructure, fortifying national decarbonisation strategies and enabling SMEs to lead regional climate action. This pioneering approach directly strengthens local economic resilience by lowering operational costs, stabilising supply chains, and facilitating sustainable business growth. Ventrix's model serves as a replicable blueprint for effective industrial decarbonisation, aligned closely with the UK's Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy (UKGOV, 2021). Its success in SWW will showcase a scalable, decentralised CCU infrastructure that can drive transportation and storage use cases at scale, driving robust economic and environmental impact across the UK and globally.
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