IGNITE - Indigenous Green-steel for Net-zero Innovation, Technology and Enterprise

IGNITE is a multi-university/industry partnership that will kick start a green steel revolution supporting a just transition to net zero economic growth. Over the decades UK industrial communities have been disproportionately affected by decline. For example, even before the recent fuel price increases up to half of Neath Port Talbot residents were in fuel poverty. The current potential for the transition of UK steelworks to net zero operation holds initial challenges but longer-term opportunity. In the decades to come indigenous steel production can drive a green industrial revolution. The Swansea University led innovation ecosystem of UK Universities have supported SUSTAIN to contribute to ca £2.5bn investment in a decarbonisation pathway. This new UKRI application to create the IGNITE Sustainable Manufacturing Hub aims to trailblaze the emerging opportunities for UK wide produced green steel to underpin our just transition to net zero. IGNITE has three core pillars (Grand Challenges) namely development of novel green-steel products for future manufacturing (GC1 Sustainable Demand), support the transition of the industry to a fully circular model (GC2 Resilient Supply) and explore the opportunity to provide steel into the market with a service offering (GC3 Steel as a Service) extending lifetime and performance and controlling the long-term recycling supply chain. These align to key ambitions: GC1 - Profitable supply chains for sustainable products by 2035 GC2 - Re-shore 5 million tonnes of supply by 2040 GC3 - Commercialisation of steel as a service by 2035 To solve the grand challenges and deliver on the ambitions IGNITE will address four cross-cutting interdisciplinary scientific research challenges namely: Sustainable metallurgical design (RC1): providing the tools to design the metals of tomorrow Durability and performance monitoring (RC2); creating the techniques to evaluate and extend lifetime Enablers of servitization (RC3); understanding the barriers and opportunities of steel as a service Optimising steel use and re-use (RC4): re-imagining the design process to maximise steel deployment and the ease of reuse and recycling. Ultimately IGNITE should power-up delivery of novel products into three key market facing Demand led supply chains namely: D1 Energy: steel supports the manufacturing and deployment of renewable energy solutions from SMRs to floating offshore wind and new forms of energy generation storage and release for photovoltaics, hydrogen electrolysers and storage solutions. D2 Transport: green steel will underpin marine, land and air transport for the future and critically enable new industries ranging from the hydrogen transport economy to new and lower cost materials for energy storage (thermal, electrical and calorific). D3 Infrastructure: green steel has the potential to become the material of choice for better buildings, public and private sector civil engineering modernisation and in defence applications. The IGNITE Manufacturing Hub will also be a central pathway to establishing a National Manufacturing Institute for Wales building on the successful models developed by AMRC, WMG and NMIS creating an allied but distinctive operation that supporting both regional economic development and wider UK and international impact. Building on our heritage of support and innovation in metals the NMIW will support the colocation and growth of synergistic manufacturing opportunities on glass and plastic materials supporting a UK and worldwide transition to functional materials for the net zero economy.