6. Plaid Cymru Debate: Decarbonisation

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:44 pm on 26 February 2020.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:44, 26 February 2020

(Translated)

Thank you very much. Only a minute or so remains to me. I won't summarise everything that's been said, but thank you for the contributions that we have heard. Andrew R.T. Davies noted that he, too, hopes that today, with the launch of the new Welsh group and this debate, is the start of a new period of intensity, if you will, of discussion with regard to hydrogen. Llyr Gruffydd spoke about the need to be truly innovative and proactive, and that’s what’s important. And thank you to Dai Rees for focusing on the element of whether hydrogen drives industry in Wales, which is so important. We need to decarbonise our industries and, of course, there are industries that make very heavy use of energy in your constituency.

In terms of what we heard from the Minister, we heard a summary of the different elements of uses for hydrogen. She also spoke about what the Government’s already done, and I think I summarised a lot of that work. I don't think I quite heard the urgency of what I am seeking in terms of what happens next, but, of course, the Minister is right to say that we need to start where we are. We need to build on the work that is being done now, and I’m excited about hydrogen—I’m genuinely excited, and I think we should all now keep a close eye on what the Government is doing to move this agenda forward. My criticism of this Government here isn’t very often that it does nothing, but that it’s not doing enough and with urgency.

Well, with this, we don’t have any choice now to take steps forward, or we’ll be left behind, rather than what we could be doing, which is being in the vanguard of this. And I think it’s going to be a revolution in terms of energy, energy production and use of energy globally.