The basque scientist Mercedes Maroto-Valer, director of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) and deputy director of Global Sustainability at Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom, won the Net-Zero Industries Award in the category of ‘Innovative Woman’ this Friday at a ceremony held in the framework of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop28), which is being held until 12 December in Dubai. This recognition is a testament to her outstanding contributions in the field of industrial decarbonisation.
The Net-Zero Industries Awards, presented by Net-Zero Industries Mission (NZIM), recognise pioneers who are driving the global adoption of decarbonisation technologies in challenging, energy-intensive industries. Professor Maroto-Valer’s dedication and innovative work in this field has earned her the top award.
Her career is internationally recognised. She has more than 585 publications, with 5% in the top 10 of the most cited and has received numerous prestigious international prizes and awards.
The Women Innovators category demonstrates the importance of women, who play a fundamental role in shaping our society and have immense potential to lead the change towards a zero net emissions future, so they want to «honour exemplary women who have broken barriers, shattered glass ceilings and are driving change in industries. Their contributions are invaluable, and this is their moment to be recognised for their remarkable achievements».
Women in this field of research are still not many, as she laments: «Unfortunately, we are still in the minority. Attracting talent is a very important challenge to achieve a just energy transition.
IDRIC, under Maroto-Valer’s leadership, stands as the focal point for green transformation in the UK’s industrial centres. Driven by research and innovation and backed by more than £20 million in funding, it is committed to developing innovative decarbonisation solutions. «Through this work, my role has been recognised as a world leader in industrial decarbonisation and this has led me to lead the UK community to decarbonise industry. In this role, we are helping the UK’s largest industrial clusters (50% of all UK industrial emissions) on the path to establishing the world’s first net zero industrial cluster,» says Maroto-Valer.
The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge is a crucial initiative aimed at large UK industrial clusters, aligning with the country’s goal of achieving net zero emissions. The ambitious plan involves the creation of two low-carbon clusters by the mid-2020s, two additional clusters by 2030, and the world’s first net zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040.