Digital twin tech could help slash ‘phantom load’ waste
Published: 13 January 2026
Adopting digital twin technology to manage the power consumption of idle devices could save organisations thousands of pounds a year and help reduce their carbon footprint, new research suggests. Engineers from the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering have developed a prototype of a digital tool which can monitor and manage ‘phantom load’, the electricity consumed by devices like computers or office equipment when they are plugged into mains power but are not in active use.