When discussing industrial decarbonisation, Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer speaks about technology pathways, industrial communities, regional economies and the people whose futures depend on the successful transformation of our industrial heartlands. It is a perspective that has become the hallmark of her career and one that has positioned her as one of the most influential voices in the global transition towards sustainable industry, while safeguarding economic competitiveness and regional prosperity.
The future of industrial competitiveness will not be determined solely by technology breakthroughs or ambitious policy targets, but by whether industrial communities can adapt, thrive and remain competitive in a rapidly changing world. For energy-intensive sectors such as chemicals, steel, cement and refining, the challenge is no longer whether transition is necessary, but how it can be achieved rapidly, economically and equitably. At the forefront of that transformation stands Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer OBE, Director and Champion of the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), who has become a central figure in shaping how industry, government and academia jointly approach the sustainable and prosperous transition to a low-carbon economy.
Her leadership of IDRIC has been particularly influential. IDRIC was established in 2021 to support the decarbonisation of the UK’s industrial clusters, and it has evolved into a national hub for collaboration, bringing together researchers, policymakers and industry leaders. IDRIC has supported 100 projects across more than 250 partners, resulting in over 60 new prototypes, processes, technologies, models and materials, as well as more than 240 publicly accessible outputs. IDRIC’s work is directly relevant to chemical manufacturing and downstream processing, including projects in the Teesside cluster, where hydrogen, feedstock switching and carbon management are increasingly central to competitiveness.
Throughout her career across academic institutions in US and UK, she has sought to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and industrial application. With more than 600 publications and editor of 4 books on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), digital tools and sustainable production routes for chemical energy vectors, her research has advanced solutions that are increasingly central to achieving global climate goals.
Her broader vision of sustainability is also evident through her institutional leadership as Deputy Principal for Global Sustainability at Heriot-Watt University, playing a key role in embedding sustainability across education, research and global partnerships across the UK, Dubai and Malaysia campuses. She is also Director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) at Heriot-Watt, leading the development of novel materials and processes for CO2 capture and utilisation to substitute fossil‑derived carbon in chemical manufacturing and sustainable aviation fuels.
Her commitment to sustainability and industrial transformation also extends to talent development. She has championed the development of the next generation of leaders through the establishment of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Green Industrial Futures. By fostering research cultures that are collaborative, solution-oriented and grounded in industrial reality, she has helped build the human capacity needed for long-term transformation.
Professor Maroto-Valer’s achievements have been recognised through major honours, including her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to low-energy technologies and the First Global Net-Zero Industries Award for Female Innovators. Such recognitions reflect not only her scientific standing, but also the wider impact of her leadership across research, innovation and sustainability.
In a field often defined by technical complexity and policy uncertainty, Professor Maroto-Valer has provided clarity, direction and momentum. Her work offers a coherent blueprint for how the chemical industry can move from incremental efficiency gains to genuinely transformative decarbonisation, while fostering high-value manufacturing and innovation.
For more information, please visit idric.org.
