Cranfield University has joined a new national research hub aimed at rapidly decarbonising UK transport through digital twinning.

The TransiT hub, a collaboration between six universities and 67 industry partners, is jointly led by Heriot-Watt University and the University of Glasgow.

The hub will employ digital twinning to identify the most cost-effective, low-risk, and energy-efficient methods of decarbonising transport.

Cranfield's role focuses on aviation, initially examining commercial goods transportation with potential expansion to passenger aircraft.

Cranfield's research will analyse the entire journey of goods from dispatch to final destination, including couriers and delivery vehicles, to optimise and decarbonise the whole delivery process.

The project has secured £20 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with an additional £26 million provided by stakeholders across the digital, energy, and transport sectors.

Digital twinning links computer models to real-world data in real-time, allowing rapid processing of large volumes of data to test scenarios and find solutions.

The TransiT team plans to test elements of a future decarbonised UK transport system, including electric road systems and widespread use of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel.

Professor John Ahmet Erkoyuncu, Head of the Centre for Digital Engineering and Manufacturing at Cranfield University, said: "The central question we're aiming to answer with TransiT is how we decarbonise the entire transport sector.

“We have to look at the combination of all modes of transport to understand how everything can work together more efficiently.

“There are so many factors to consider, even down to whether delivery trucks are half empty or how urgent delivery is and whether multiple deliveries could be consolidated.

"The great thing about the digital twin approach is that we can run multiple simulations in the time it would take to do just one trip in the real world.

“That gives us the ability to not only look at different ways of doing things, but to be reactive and make changes to build resilience into the system."

The research will benefit government policymakers by providing insights into the potential consequences of their decisions across various future scenarios.

It will also help transport users make more sustainable travel choices at local, regional, and national levels.