Congratulations to IDRIC Director Mercedes Maroto-Valer, IDRIC Industrial Advisory Board Chair Chris Williams, and IDRIC community members Yulong Ding and Janie Ling Chin on contributing their expertise to the Royal Society’s report, Unlocking thermal energy: Capture, storage and re-use of industrial waste heat.

The report shines a light on one of the UK’s most overlooked energy resources. Industrial heating accounts for around 14% of UK emissions, yet nearly half of industrial energy is lost as waste heat. Capturing and reusing this energy could help decarbonise industry, lower demand, boost productivity, and create new local heat sources for communities.

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Despite the shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, significant heat loss will continue unless systems are put in place to capture, store and reuse it.
• “Heat cascades” could distribute thermal energy from high-temperature industries to lower-temperature users, including heat networks for homes and public buildings.
• Failing to integrate heat capture systems into upcoming industrial changes risks locking in new technologies that are incompatible with future heat reuse, leaving UK industries at a long-term competitive disadvantage.
• Achieving heat re-use at scale will require coordinated action between government, industry, regulators, communities and researchers.

We are pleased that IDRIC’s extensive research in this area has played a key role in informing the report. Professor Maroto-Valer spoke at the launch event in London last week, describing how our work is already supporting the report’s recommendations.

Speaking at the launch, she also said: “This report shines a light on one of the UK’s most overlooked energy resources. Industrial waste heat is often treated as an inevitable by‑product, yet it represents a vast reservoir of untapped potential.

“The findings make clear that if we design our future infrastructure with fuel switching and thermal efficiency in mind, the UK can accelerate its journey to net zero while strengthening industrial competitiveness.

“This is a moment we cannot afford to miss.”

Read the full report: Unlocking thermal energy: capture, storage and re-use of industrial waste heat | Royal Society

Last year, as part of our Frontiers Report Series, IDRIC published a report on Industrial Heat and Energy Efficiency. The report highlighted key research to decarbonise industrial heating and cooling processes that are critical for our industrial heartlands to achieving net zero targets and economic growth.