NEXT STEPS FOR IDRIC:

Driving Forward With Industrial Decarbonisation

Since its launch in 2021, IDRIC - the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre - has made major strides on the UK’s road to net zero. To date, IDRIC has funded 100 research projects across 34 universities, creating an industrial decarbonisation ‘Knowledge Hub’ for academic research and cluster activities across several key UK industrial regions including the Black Country, Humber, Northwest, Scotland, Tees Valley, Solent and South Wales.

The organisation, led by Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer, the UK’s Decarbonisation Champion, has supported policymakers at both the UK and devolved levels, carried out skills and training programmes, and developed initiatives that promote equality, diversity and inclusion for academic, industry and government stakeholders working on industrial decarbonisation challenges. Through its research funding, convening power and policy support, IDRIC has quickly established itself as the central player driving forward the UK’s industrial decarbonisation agenda.

The UK was the first country to publish a dedicated industrial decarbonisation strategy and also the creation of the government-backed Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge providing support for IDRIC. This initiative recognised that around half of its industrial emissions originate from major clusters of energy-intensive sec- tors like steel, cement and chemicals. By harnessing economies of scale and shared infrastructure in these concentrated industrial zones, the cluster approach taken by IDRIC’s work aims to unlock cost-effective decarbonisation solutions while maintaining global competitiveness.

IDRIC’s pivotal role in catalysing the UK’s transition to a net-zero economy is now set to continue with the recent announcement of a £1 million funding injection from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This new funding will allow IDRIC to build on its successes to date and maximise its impact over the next 12 months through collaborative knowledge sharing, stakeholder engagement, and skills development, to maintain the momentum that has been built in industrial decarbonisation.

Knowledge Exchange And Dissemination

A key activity and output for IDRIC over the next 12 months will be to organise drafting and scoping workshops culminating in a Frontiers Report which will synthesise findings from IDRIC’s research projects. Among other things, the report will provide guidance on how to achieve the short and long-term industrial decarbonisation targets outlined in the cluster plans, national policies, and international agreements.

IDRIC will develop a suite of other, high-impact materials that effectively communicate its work and inform its stakeholders. By leveraging some great visuals and engaging storytelling, IDRIC aims to further build the reach and impact of its research and policy recommendations.

IDRIC’s successful webinar series in 2023 and user-friendly ‘Knowledge Hub’, a one-stop resource that provides easy access to its research outputs, tools, and insights, will both be further developed, ensuring that valuable knowledge remains readily available to the wider community.

Partnerships And Clusters

IDRIC’s convening power will continue to bring the many and varied stakeholders of industrial decarbonisation together. Facilitating direct engagement with key players in the industrial heartlands as well as research academics and policy makers will remain vital in the push towards industrial decarbonisation. These meetings will provide a platform for IDRIC to understand the evolving needs, challenges, and per- spectives of its partners, while also sharing insights and collaborating on solutions.

One of the planned outcomes of partnership building is an Industry Net-zero Innovation Roadmap which will outline the critical research challenges, funding requirements, and structural support needed to continue the momentum in research and innovation and align efforts towards the 2030 and 2050 net-zero targets.

IDRIC will continue fostering close academia-industry collaboration to address specific challenges and opportunities to accelerate the development and deployment of decarbonisation projects.

CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

IDRIC recognises that to successfully address the many multifaceted challenges of industrial decarbonisation requires a holistic approach that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. With this in mind, IDRIC has identified several cross-cutting themes – namely, policy, skills development, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and support for early career researchers (ECRs) – which are woven into all its activities. The cross-cutting themes are intended to provide a framework that supports the advancement of decarbonisation solutions but also cultivates an environment that enables the effective implementation and long-term sustainability of those solutions.

Through publishing policy newsletters and briefing papers, convening a policy forum, and continuing to connect expertise to identify risks, barriers and policy solutions in priority areas like CCUS, hydrogen, carbon pricing in the next 12 months, IDRIC will continue to develop the supportive policy and regulatory frameworks informed by cross-disciplinary expertise required for successful industrial decarbonisation.

Meanwhile, the ongoing development of a skilled workforce is crucial for accelerating research into deployable decarbonisation solutions and managing the transition to a net zero industry. To nurture this next generation, IDRIC plans to launch a visualisation tool that maps diverse net zero career pathways for school leavers. Additionally, the organisation will support its Early Career Researcher Academy through committee meetings, newsletters, and training workshops, as well as collaborating with the new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Green Industrial Futures.

Embedding EDI principles across the entire process of decarbonisation enables diverse perspectives to be shared, promotes inclusivity, and ensures decarbonisation solutions consider equity and justice concerns.

Recent IDRIC research highlighted the importance of adopting a place-sensitive, socially fair approach that engages local communities as partners in the transition to delivering net zero industrial clusters. The research demonstrates that industrial decarbonisation is not just a technical challenge but also a social one which must align with expectations of a just transition and consider social factors alongside emissions when assessing sustainability and success measurements of decarbonisation.

By integrating policy insights, upskilling the industrial workforce while empowering the next generation of researchers, and promoting inclusive practices, IDRIC aims to provide capacity growth and bring about systemic change that benefits all parties in the UK’s transition towards a net-zero industrial landscape.

A Unique Position To Deliver Industry Solutions

The UK’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 hinges on decarbonising our major industrial clusters. With recent new funding, IDRIC is doubling down on its vision to accelerate this industrial decarbonisation through collaborative research, innovation, and stakeholder engagement. Over the next 12 months, IDRIC will maximise the impact of its work to date by consolidating and communicating learnings via, among other documents, its Frontiers Report and

Industry Net-Zero Innovation Roadmap.

In addition to these key deliverables, IDRIC will advance its work in relation to cross-cutting themes of policy, workforce development and diversity and inclusion. This all-systems approach recognises that technological solutions alone are insufficient and systemic change requires a wider, holistic view of the competing objectives at play in decarbonisation.

By fostering open knowledge sharing, cross-sector collaboration, and whole-systems thinking, IDRIC remains uniquely positioned to maintain the UK’s leadership in industrial decarbonisation. With its unparalleled convening power and trusted expertise, it can unite the efforts of government, academic research and industry to drive the crucial transition to a just and sustainable future.