Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) Professor Frank Geels has been appointed as the Co-Investigator of a new £20 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded research and innovation centre. The new government-funded Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) aims to provide solutions to challenges currently faced by energy-intensive industries (such as steel, chemicals, and cement) in the UK.

Frank Geels, Professor of System Innovation and Sustainability at Alliance MBS, and the University of Manchester’s SCI (Sustainable Consumption Institute) is renowned for his science and policy expertise, and is a world-leading scholar on socio-technical sustainability transitions.

IDRIC will shape more informed decision-making in these industries in future to reduce existing costs, risks and emissions; this includes encouraging the deployment of low-carbon technologies. The Centre forms a key part of government strategy to accelerate the delivery of innovative, environmentally sustainable technologies required to meet the UK’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Professor Geels’ role at IDRIC aligns with one of the University’s five strategic SR priorities, promoting environmental sustainability and also links to the mission of numerous SDGs including: responsible consumption and production (12), climate action (13) and decent work and economic growth (8). It presents an important opportunity for the research and work of Geels and his colleagues at Alliance MBS and the SCI to have a real-world impact on Covid-19 recovery strategies and support building back greener in the UK.

Professor Geels will be involved in two major two-year projects as part of his role for the Centre, at the forefront of the UK’s ambitions to cut industrial greenhouse gas emissions. On the first project, he will take the role of Principal Investigator, leading research into: “Low-carbon reorientation in steel, oil refining and chemical industries.” Secondly, he will be Co-Investigator on a project administered by Sussex University, which is exploring: “Smart policy and governance for industrial decarbonisation.”

Professor Geels added: “It is great to be a part of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre, and to work on exciting projects that address drivers and barriers of low-carbon reorientation of existing industries.”

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