Enabling net zero: a plan for UK industrial decarbonisation

A new report from UKRI’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) highlights the UK’s potential to harness the power of its industrial clusters and drive the next phase of emissions reductions while contributing to a stronger economy and energy security. 

The report, “Enabling Net Zero: A Plan for UK Industrial Cluster Decarbonisation” goes on to outline five recommendations for both government and industry to collaborate on and enact. The recommendations address common challenges documented in individual plans from six industrial clusters around the UK – the Humber, North West, Black Country, Scotland, South Wales, and Tees Valley.

Report Recommendations:

1. Clear signals be provided to the market to facilitate the transition from interim deployment targets to net zero across all clusters by 2050.

2. Opportunities be investigated to rationalise and expedite permitting for common infrastructure projects that are at the core of the industrial clusters’ plans.

3. An Industrial Cluster Advocate with strong government connections is formally appointed and a mechanism is developed for ongoing coordination and communication with industrial clusters.

4. The development of actionable measures and timings of jobs and skills requirements needed for industrial clusters to decarbonise.

5. Standardised methodologies for decarbonisation impact estimating be defined and prescribed.

Enabling Net Zero provides a clear path forward for the government and industry partnership needed to establish at least four low-carbon clusters by 2030, and the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040. The report sets out the actions and conditions needed for the next phase of decarbonisation to support the creation of clusters that have competitive advantages, attractive investment opportunities, increased innovation, and provide prosperity and meaningful engagement with local communities.

IDC is a £210 million programme, matched by £261 million from industry, launched by UK Research and Innovation and delivered through Innovate UK. It was designed to support the development of low-carbon technologies and infrastructure to enable the deep decarbonisation of six of the UK’s largest industrial clusters. The technologies at the heart of the challenge are carbon capture and storage and hydrogen fuel switching, which are being developed and scaled up ready for deployment.