UK Government Publishes its Net Zero Technology Outlook – Mapping the Technology Path to 2050
The Government Office for Science (GOS) has recently published its Net Zero Technology Outlook, providing a strategic evidence base to inform research, innovation and decision-making in support of the country’s net zero ambitions. The document assesses technology readiness and certainty across five major emitting sectors (and 18 sub-sectors), identifying the likely technology mix needed to reach net zero by 2050.
The sector’s assessed in the document are as follows:
Industry: steel, cement, chemicals, glass and ceramics, and food and drink
Transport: surface transport, maritime and aviation
Heat and buildings: heating and cooling, energy efficiency and building design
Agriculture, land use and waste: agriculture, land use and nature-based solutions, and waste
Power: variable renewables, clean firm power, clean dispatchable power, energy storage and system flexibility, and transmission and distribution
Key framework and approach
The report evaluates technologies using two different measures, these being technology and market readiness level (TMRL), or how close technologies are to full adoption at the scale needed by 2050, and technology certainty level (TCL), the current confidence that specific technologies will be part of the final 2050 mix.
GOS has used this dual assessment to provide clarity on which technologies are mature and certain versus those that are emerging or speculative but potentially disruptive.
Sector readiness varies significantly
Whilst the report can be read to understand the TMRL and TCL across each of the 18 sub-sectors, including in-depth analysis of the research, development and demonstration of the technologies outlined, some key analysis can be found in the variance shown by different sectors.
For instance, the power sector shows the clearest pathway with offshore wind, solar, and nuclear forming the backbone, supported by energy storage and smart grid technologies. Heat pumps and building efficiency measures also demonstrate strong technology maturity.
Meanwhile, industrial decarbonisation presents more complex challenges, with hydrogen-based steelmaking, high-temperature electrification, and CCUS deployment still developing. Transport electrification is progressing rapidly for surface vehicles, while maritime and aviation depend on emerging alternative fuels.
Finally, agriculture remains particularly challenging, expected to be a net emitter by 2050 due to inherent methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock and fertilisers, despite technological advances in feed additives and precision farming.
This variance in readiness levels creates complex policy challenges. Where technologies are mature and certain, policymakers can invest with confidence in deployment and scaling. However, sectors with emerging or uncertain technologies require different approaches – balancing support for multiple technology pathways while avoiding premature commitment to solutions that may not prove viable at scale. The report emphasises that close collaboration with industry will be essential to navigate these uncertainties, ensuring that policy frameworks can adapt as technologies mature and market conditions evolve.
Critical cross-cutting technologies
The report identifies hydrogen, biomass, and greenhouse gas removals/CCUS as technologies that will underpin multiple sectors.
Hydrogen emerges as essential for industrial processes where electrification is difficult, alternative fuel production, and long-duration energy storage, while biomass faces significant supply constraints relative to potential demand, requiring careful prioritisation across competing uses.
CCUS and greenhouse gas removal technologies are positioned as necessary solutions for sectors that cannot fully decarbonise, particularly cement production, aviation, and managing residual emissions across multiple industries.
Beyond tech development
The document rightly emphasises that achieving net zero requires more than technological innovation alone, despite its importance. System integration, infrastructure development, workforce training, and supply chain resilience emerge as equally critical enablers. For example, the report underscores that electricity demand will double by 2050, requiring massive infrastructure scaling alongside technology deployment.
Implications for digital technology
Digitalisation appears as a common thread across all sectors, from precision agriculture and smart energy management to AI-enabled manufacturing and grid optimisation. This presents significant opportunities for technology companies in areas including predictive maintenance, system integration, and data-driven process optimisation.
The central challenge now lies in aligning investment, regulation, and innovation ecosystems to ensure these technologies mature at the required scale and pace for a
net zero economy. techUK members are uniquely positioned at the forefront of this transformation, possessing the digital capabilities essential for system integration and the expertise to bridge the gap between emerging technologies and real-world deployment across critical sectors.
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The techUK Climate Programme provides opportunities for members to present tech solutions that assist carbon emission reduction, circularity, and human rights goals. We also help our members with their own net zero transition, including measurement, implementation, compliance, and reporting. Visit the programme page here.
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Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability, techUK
Craig Melson
Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability, techUK
Craig is Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability and leads on our work in these areas ranging from climate change, ESG disclosures and due diligence, through to circular economy, business and human rights, conflict minerals and post-Brexit regulation.
Prior to joining techUK he worked in public affairs and policy has an avid interest in new and emerging technologies. Craig has a degree in Ancient History from King’s College London and spends his time watching Watford FC and holding out hope for Half Life 3.
Josh joined techUK as a Programme Manager for Telecoms and Net Zero in August 2024.
In this role, working jointly across the techUK Telecoms and Climate Programmes, Josh is responsible for leading on telecoms infrastructure deployment and uptake and supporting innovation opportunities, as well as looking at how the tech sector can be further utilised in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Prior to joining techUK, Josh’s background was in public affairs and communications, working for organisations across a diverse portfolio of sectors including defence, telecoms and infrastructure; aiding clients through stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, media outreach as well as secretariat duties.
Outside of work, Josh has a keen interest in music, painting and sailing.
Programme Assistant, Data Centres, Climate, Environment and Sustainability, Market Access, techUK
Lucas Banach
Programme Assistant, Data Centres, Climate, Environment and Sustainability, Market Access, techUK
Lucas Banach is Programme Assistant at techUK, he works on a range of programmes including Data Centres; Climate, Environment & Sustainability; Market Access and Smart Infrastructure and Systems.
Before that Lucas who joined in 2008, held various roles in our organisation, which included his role as Office Executive, Groups and Concept Viability Administrator, and most recently he worked as Programme Executive for Public Sector. He has a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski Cracow University.
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