Decarbonising Freight

Our focus is on providing research-led solutions combined with a sharp commercial focus, to help businesses achieve their corporate goals and objectives

Logistics accounts for almost 15% of all carbon emissions in the UK, approximately equivalent to the emissions from passenger cars. The decarbonisation of the logistics system is difficult because warehousing and logistics cannot be separated. Changes to storage strategies impact transport demands and vice versa. 

Professor Phil Greening's internationally recognised research sits at the nexus of vehicle technology, energy systems, freight operations, and policy. He is Deputy Director for the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight and Director of the Centre for Sustainability and Logistics.

The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight is an EPSRC-funded collaboration between Heriot-Watt, Cambridge, and Westminster universities, and incorporates a consortium of leading industrial organisations. Professor Greening leads a team of 27 researchers who work with large scale high-fidelity virtual worlds and data analysis, and are focused on developing novel low carbon logistics solutions.

Real world impact

Collectively EPSRC, InnovateUK and industry have contributed in excess of £8m to the Centre's Research since its formation in 2012. Over 20 related research projects have helped the centre to build up a portfolio of scientific evidence to guide industry and government towards carbon neutral freight solutions. Much of this evidence has been used to underpin government policy in this area.

Read more about the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight