£1m boost for net zero transition hub at Heriot-watt Uni
A pioneering facility based at Edinburgh’s Heriot-watt University has secured a £1 million funding boost to continue its efforts catalysing industrial decarbonisation in the UK.
The UK’S Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (Idric) has been awarded the sum by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which is backed by UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK’S Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,
The funding will allow Idric to maximise its impact through continued knowledge-sharing, supporting skills developmen, and providing key evidence to policymakers to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.
It said it will foster a collaborative environment across its stakeholders through the codelivery of an Industry Netzero Innovation Roadmap, and “adopt a whole-systems approach that covers both technologies and social sciences including dissemination of a high-impact Frontiers Report”.
Idric said that since its launch in 2021, it has made “major strides” on the UK’S road to net zero (targeted for 2050), and has funded 100 research projects across 34 universities, creating an industrial decarbonisation Knowledge Hub for research projects and cluster activities. It added that it has supported policymakers at both the UK and devolved levels and carried out skills and training programmes.
In August it was announced that it had, as part of its rolling Flexible Funding Programme, awarded £1.2m to projects at higher education institutions, including Heriot-watt and Strathclyde universities, to help foster a major new wave of decarbonisation research.
Idric director Professor Mercedes Maroto-valer said: “Idric’s values and mission align with the UK Government’s commitment to support and drive net zero goals. In a short space of time, Idric has demonstrated its standing internationally as a multidisciplinary, mission-driven research and innovation centre. Now is the time to really leverage Idric’s convening power and engage with our network of academic, industry, and government partners.”