Accelerating net-zero future via fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics

The transition toward net-zero emissions requires a fundamental transformation of chemically reacting flow systems across energy generation, transportation, and industrial sectors. Conventional fossil-fuel combustion has supported global industrialization for more than a century. However, its associated greenhouse gas emissions, pollutant formation, and resources depletion have intensified the urgency for sustainable alternatives. This roadmap presents an integrated perspective on the role of fluid dynamics, combustion chemistry, advanced diagnostics, and intelligent modeling in enabling the low-carbon energy transition. Particular emphasis is placed on hydrogen, ammonia and sustainable aviation fuels as emerging energy carriers capable of supporting deep decarbonization pathways. It further discusses how high-fidelity simulations, laser diagnostics, and machine learning are revolutionizing the knowledge and control of reactive flow under realistic operational circumstances. In contrast to these, scalable industrial decarbonization solutions like carbon capture, chemical looping combustion, and oxygen-carrier technologies are also discussed for the reduction of emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. A comprehensive path connecting basic kinetics, multiscale transport phenomena, digital intelligence and industrial implementation from 2025 to 2050 was proposed. The net-zero future will not only depend on alternate clean fuels, but also on developments in turbulence-chemistry interaction, reaction mechanism development, reactor design, and integrated system optimization. The study presented is consistent with the net-zero objective and indicates key research priorities essential to achieve dependable, economically viable, and ecologically sustainable reacting-flow systems.