Fresh funding worth £20 million has been announced for the launch of a new research and innovation centre to help drive industrial decarbonisation in the UK.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), run by Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer from Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University, will work in line with the government’s plans for a green industrial revolution and will be tasked with identifying and researching opportunities to reduce costs, risks, timescales and emissions.

It will do so across clusters of energy intensive industries that currently make a significant contribution to UK emissions, according to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which is providing the funding.

The centre will build and provide evidence from the activities of the industrial clusters to help address their challenges, shape more informed decisions on future decarbonisation options and support wider policy on the UK’s industrial decarbonisation mission as a whole.

It will also analyse any impact or need for broader institutional reforms for the sector that could help decarbonisation plans work more effectively to meet net zero and economic targets.

Professor Maroto-Valer said: “The role of IDRIC will be to consider a wide-range of opportunities and challenges for the industrial sector to decarbonise, starting with the industrial clusters and our joint ambition to deliver the world’s first net zero industrial hubs by 2040.

“The research and evidence we’ll work through with our academic and industry partners across the UK will not just focus on industry itself, however, but also how it will shape society and economies at both a local and national level. It’s a key part of making sure the UK heads down the most effective path with its decarbonisation efforts and I’m looking forward to starting the journey.”