London, 5 December 2024 - Manufacturers, startups, and research organisations across the UK have joined forces to advance the use of artificial intelligence to drive industrial decarbonisation.
The Industrial Decarbonisation AI Coalition (IDAIC) is a new group which will pool resource and expertise to help accelerate industry decarbonisation.
In 2022, the world achieved a decarbonisation rate of just 2.5%. However, to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a year-on-year rate of 17.2% is needed. Through advanced R&D and collaboration facilitated by the IDAIC, the development of critical AI problem-solving tools will look to support this goal.
Spearheaded by Nexus Climate and Cleantech for UK, its full list of members include:
- Innovate UK Business Connect
- Make UK
- The World Cement Association
- The Industrial Decarbonisation Research & Innovation Centre
- The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO
- Carbon Re
- A3&Co
The IDAIC's initial focus will be promoting areas of development for AI in industrial processing and materials discovery. It will do this via education, awareness and identifying sector opportunities.
Sherif Elsayed-Ali, co-founder of Nexus Climate said: “We believe the UK is in a prime position to grasp this opportunity and become the global leader in AI for industrial decarbonisation. We have some of the best materials and engineering research base in the world, combined with one of the top AI and machine learning ecosystems globally.”
Ian Riley, CEO of World Cement Association continued: “The industry has the opportunity to use Artificial Intelligence to improve cement operations and product quality as well as to reduce costs and emissions. Some companies are already enjoying the benefits of deploying AI while others have recognised the potential but are struggling to reach the level of digital maturity required as a foundation. I believe that AI will become a more and more important competitive factor over time.”
Chris Pilgrim, Knowledge Transfer Manager – Materials at Innovate UK Business Connect, concluded: “Over the past few years we have seen a significant rise in the use of AI, across most industries. Its vast potential is now being widely recognised, yet its role in industrial decarbonisation applications is yet to be fulfilled. This Coalition looks to address this imbalance and help bring some real-world change to those critical industries that truly need it.”
The coalition is open to manufacturers and industrial producers as well as startups and research organisations working at the intersection of AI and industrial decarbonisation. For membership enquiries and any further information, please contact