How we’re applying the latest AI developments to fight climate change and build a more sustainable, low-carbon world
AI is a powerful technology that will change our future. So how can we best apply AI to combat climate change and find sustainable solutions?
Our Head of Climate and Sustainability, Sims Witherspoon, recently spoke at TED Countdown about how AI can accelerate the transition to renewable energy. It is explained as follows. “Climate change is a multifaceted problem and there is no single solution. We need to move beyond just talking about what can be done, and start focusing on how we can do it.”
The effects of climate change on Earth’s ecosystems are incredibly complex. As part of our efforts to use AI to solve some of the world’s toughest problems, we will deepen our understanding, optimize existing systems, and accelerate groundbreaking science about climate and its impacts.
Understand weather, climate, and their effects
A deeper understanding of the core issues and their impacts is an important first step in tackling climate change. We have worked with the Met Office to develop a precipitation nowcasting model to better understand weather changes. This nowcasting model is more accurate than existing state-of-the-art technology and is highly preferred by professional meteorologists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Our climate and weather research ranges from short-term (within 2 hours) to medium-term (10 days) forecasts. This can have a significant impact on the optimization of natural resource-based renewable energy systems.
From modeling the behavior of animal species across the Serengeti to supporting machine learning projects that drive conservation projects in Africa, we help scientists track and better understand the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity. We have supported you to do so. Going forward, our team will build an AI system used to identify bird songs in Australia and help advance tools to monitor changing wildlife at scale.
Additionally, we are partnering with the nonprofit Climate Change AI to fill critical gaps in climate-related data. The partnership is currently focused on building a comprehensive wishlist of datasets that will power AI solutions to climate change. Once this wishlist is complete, we plan to make it widely available to the public.
Optimize your existing system
We need to optimize the systems the world relies on today while moving towards more sustainable infrastructure. For example, today’s computing infrastructure, including AI itself, is energy-intensive. To solve some of these problems, we have been developing AI that can enhance existing systems, such as optimizing industrial cooling or more efficient computer systems.
Given that our energy grid is not yet running on clean energy, it is important to use resources as efficiently as possible while working on the transition to renewable energy. Accelerating the global transition to renewable energy sources can also significantly reduce carbon emissions.
In 2019, our Climate & Sustainability team worked with subject matter experts from Google-owned wind farms to increase the value of wind energy and ultimately support growth across the industry. . By developing a custom AI tool to more accurately predict wind power output and another model that recommends the commitment to deliver this expected energy to the grid, this tool significantly increases the value of wind energy. I pushed it up. Cloud is currently developing a software product using this model, which is being piloted by French power company ENGIE.
Accelerate breakthrough science
Beyond optimizing existing infrastructure, scientific advances are needed to build a sustainable energy future. One particular area of great promise is nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is an extremely powerful technology with the potential to create limitless carbon-free energy. Fusion reactors are powered by a pressurized plasma of ionized hydrogen that is hotter than the sun’s core. The intense heat means this plasma can only be held together by a rapidly adjusted magnetic field. This is a notoriously difficult engineering challenge.
Mastering the magnetic control of plasma is a fundamental part of solving the challenge of controlling the fusion process and harnessing the abundant green energy it can provide. So we worked with EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center to develop an AI system that learns how to better predict and control the plasma in tokamaks. And not just contain the plasma, but “sculpt” it into various experimental shapes.
bring us your challenges
To build effective AI solutions, researchers need a strong understanding of the challenges facing people around the world. This includes accessing data that represents the problem, partnering with subject matter experts to ensure that we are building reliable systems, following policy guidance on regulatory structures, and ensuring that these systems It involves finding real opportunities to test. For this reason, collaboration with affected communities, scientists, industry experts, regulators and governments is central to our sustainability efforts.
If you are an industry expert or climate scientist with a specific challenge to solve to help the world understand, mitigate and adapt to climate change, our Climate & Sustainable The sex team would love to hear from you.
Contact: contact-gdm-sustainability@google.com
