How AI is combating climate change
As a species that calls planet earth home, the most pressing issue facing our existence is climate change. As man made threats have perpetuated the crisis, man made innovation also exists to aid us. One such innovation of magnitude at our disposal is artificial intelligence. AI is the most powerful 21st century tool we have, and through clever deployment, we can use it to support our transition to a green future.
Climate change and AI share unique similarities. Both will disrupt every sector of the global economy and both will touch all human lives in years to come. The application of artificial intelligence may be the secret weapon in the race to decarbonise our world.
Nearly all activity on earth contributes to our collective carbon footprint. Eating, moving, building, swiping! Born from a need to counterbalance these activities are a host of innovations and initiatives paving the future of products and services to come. Among them, a host of AI driven start-ups, set on proving that artificial intellectual science is a friend, not a foe.
Another similarity between climate change and AI is in recent years is the unprecedented amount of capital flowing towards initiatives built around their issues and possibilities. Along with this, 100s of the worlds largest companies have publicly pledged to reach net zero emissions and will be looking to adopt those very same innovations that are currently in development today. This could result in not only a greener and healthier world, but many new enterprises with untapped values into the billions of dollars.
In short, climate change may bring both massive business opportunities to the global economy and propel innovation for the benefit of humans, in way only a crisis can cultivate. Below are example of initiatives marrying climate change and artificial intelligence to mine data and prioritise solutions:
Climate Intelligence
As we see unexpected weather patters wreck havoc on communities around the world, companies are starting to adopt climate intelligent thinking, and apply it to their operations. From wildfires and flooding, extreme heat and drought, core operations of many industries are feeling the impact.
In order to prepare for such disasters, and for banks and insurance companies to support such enterprises, businesses need to have reliable intelligence about the risks they face. If there is one thing that modern machine learning excels in, it is making predictions about complex systems based on lots of data.
A host of “Climate Intelligence” startups have emerged, offering predictive analytics to enable business’s to prepare for extreme weather. For example, a hotel chain may be deciding where on the coast they will build their next hotel, or a music festival will choose which weekend is best to host their event.
A great example is One Concern. One Concern is developing a “digital twin” of the world’s natural and built environments in order to dynamically and hyperlocally model the effects of climate change, offering its customers what it terms “Resilience-as-a-Service.”
Climate Insurance
AI is also revolutionising the insurance industry. Protecting both parties for potentially crippling financial damage. Historically, traditional insurance companies have struggled to effectively assess the financial risk posed by climate change, meaning many businesses simply cant take out insurance. Aon predicts, there is a $171 billion gap in climate insurance globally.
To combat this, AI initiatives are stepping up, by changing the insurance business model. The new parametric model, powered by AI, makes insurance more automated and data driven. By processing sophisticated data sets, it can automatically compensate policyholders for loss incurred upon the occurrence of a predefined events such as a hurricane. It guarantees payments when certain parameters are met, for example inches of floodwater or intensity of hurricane.
Carbon Offsets
In the light of public declarations of carbon zero ambitions made by corporations, carbon offsetting steps in the offer the most efficient and foolproof path to success. A business can decarbonise in either two ways, re-build their entire operations, or spend money on offsetting the carbon they are accountable for.
Carbon offsetting is seen as a controversial solution. Why? Because big business can throw money at a temporary fix instead of rebuilding their entire business to be greener. Regardless, in the interim, carbon offsetting is imperative to bridge the gap while big corporations decide what to do next.
Pachama has built and AI-powered carbon offset marketing platform with a focus on forestation. Using arial imagery and sensory data they can automatically estimate the carbon stored in a forest to monitor the integrity of offset projects they offer to their clients.
Buildings
Close to one-fifth of the worlds total carbon emissions are produced by our buildings, and making them more efficient is key to tackling the climate crisis. The good news, is with some smart thinking, most buildings that already exist can reduce their carbon footprints up to 90% through retrofit strategies.
The biggest opportunity to reduce carbon emissions in buildings is by moderating the cooling and heating. AI can step in to improve energy efficiency and make homes and commercial buildings more eco-friendly. Through smart learning, AI can monitor buildings and heat and cool where necessary, all while preserving energy.
Montreal-based BrainBox AI claims that its software can reduce a building’s carbon footprint by 20% to 40% within a few months by making precise, localized, real-time microadjustments to the building’s heating and cooling settings. BrainBox’s technology, which does not require the deployment of sensors, is live today in dozens of residences, hotels, airports, nursing facilities and grocery stores, impacting over 100 million square feet of real estate in total.
