The UK’s industrial clusters—concentrated zones of heavy industry like steel, chemicals, and cement—must slash their carbon emissions to meet national climate targets, but the research network that coordinates this effort is about to run out of money. This funding gap matters because decarbonising industry is not just a technical challenge; it requires sustained collaboration between companies, universities, and policymakers who must agree on long-term investments and share hard-won knowledge. Without a coordinating body, the trust and momentum built since 2021 could dissipate, delaying the UK’s first net-zero industrial cluster, planned for 2030. This 12-month grant keeps the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) running through a critical transition. It will synthesise findings from completed projects, scan for future research needs, and maintain the networks that allow competitors to cooperate on shared problems. The centre will also produce a roadmap and a frontiers report to guide decisions through the 2030s and 2040s. If successful, IDRIC preserves the relationships and strategic clarity needed to decarbonise the industrial backbone of the UK economy—a system most people never see, but which underpins everything from fertiliser to steel beams.
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Tackling industrial emissions is essential for the UK to deliver on its climate commitments and achieving economic and social prosperity from the transition to net zero. IDRIC was established in 2021 as part of the UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge to support the decarbonisation of industrial clusters. During this time, IDRIC has developed an influential and impactful network at a critical time and become an essential catalyst bringing together the research and innovation community to accelerate the pace and scale of industrial cluster decarbonisation. Funding for current IDRIC activities will cease in Spring 2024. However, the need for the functions IDRIC is delivering - the research work plus bringing together the relevant players in an environment that allows and encourages trust and collaboration, reduces barriers and accelerates progress - will continue for decades. The UK needs to take long term, multi-decadal decisions to providing long term commitment for industry emission reductions into the 2030s and IDRIC is exceptionally well placed to lead EPSRC activity towards the delivery of the UK's Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy. This proposal represents funding for a 12-month transitional period (April-2024 to March-2025), which will be crucial to support IDRIC in maintaining essential momentum and the community cohesion necessary to safeguard the knowledge, experience and relationships built at this critical time for industrial decarbonisation. The objectives have been co-created with industry and academia building upon the established sense of belonging and the long-term relationships and associated trust required to deliver: Continue to synthesise and disseminate learnings and impacts from the cluster focussed, challenge-led research delivered in 2021-2024. Foresight and horizon-scan of industry-informed research and innovation needs of decarbonisation to deliver towards targets of 2030, 2040 and 2050. Co-create and share knowledge by maintaining active networks and platforms to stimulate cross-learning and engender national/international collaborations for developing net zero solutions. Support policy, skills development and mission advocacy by providing evidence to policymakers, regulators, industry, the wider supply chain and the public to promote decarbonisation. To date, IDRIC have carefully considered that continued engagement is critical and also dependent on stakeholders gaining ongoing strategic benefit from their interaction. This has been key to IDRIC's current success, as shown by bringing together relevant players in an environment that allows and encourages trust and collaboration, reduces barriers and accelerates progress. Therefore, with this 12-month funding we will be prioritising key stakeholder engagement that are aligned with 3 workstreams; Clusters & Partnerships; KE & Synthesis; Cross-cutting Themes (Policy, Skills, EDI). The activities for this phase of IDRIC are designed to utilise IDRIC's unique convening power. They will deliver a suite of outputs e.g. (frontiers report, industry net-zero innovation roadmap) scoped through engagement with the community to ensure maximum impact from the current phase and strategic activities in support of a mapping a clear path for the critical steps required from 2025-2030 - crucial to enabling the realisation of the UKs first net-zero cluster by 2030.
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