Geospatial IoT Insights — July 28

3 ways the IoT could help fight climate change. First, IoT is implemented in sectors such as forestry and biodiversity protection, which usually lack the financial resources needed to implement innovative solutions. Second, IoT will immediately enhance the living conditions of low-income populations in developing countries, given their reliability on the agricultural sector, while also reducing the environmental footprint of agricultural activities. Third, IoT could create opportunities for new public-private partnerships. [World Economic Forum]

The Weather Company using IBM’s Watson to predict natural disasters. TWC’s subsidiary Weather Underground has over 200,000 weather stations in 195 countries. Armed with multiple sensors to detect barometric pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, and other measurements, TWC hopes to use these weather stations by leveraging IBM’s Watson IoT platform to provide critical weather data to governments and businesses in underserved areas to better prepare for impending disasters.
 [IoT HUB]

Offshore wind investments so far this year already beating 2015. Europe’s offshore wind-power industry attracted more investment in the first half of 2016 than it did during the whole of last year. Investment hit a record 14 billion euros ($15.4 billion) in the first six months of 2016, exceeding the 13.3 billion euros invested in 2015. However, worldwide investment in renewable energy fell 23 percent to $116.4 billion in the first two quarters of this year, compared with the first half of 2015. [Bloomberg]

World’s poor are pioneering the future of energy. We live in a world where 1.3 billion people still do not have access to electricity, and another 1 billion people only have access to unreliable energy sources. But a renewable energy revolution is sweeping the developing world in which the world’s poorest are becoming pioneers in renewable energy and the smart grids of the future. For example in 2015, Kenya met 90% of its electricity needs through renewables. [SingularityHUB]

Chernobyl’s atomic wasteland may be reborn with solar energy. Thirty years after the atomic fallout from the Chernobyl meltdown rendered an area the size of Luxembourg uninhabitable for centuries, Ukraine is seeking investors to develop solar power near the defunct Soviet reactors. The site already has high-voltage transmission lines that were previously used for the nuclear stations, and the land is very cheap. Ukraine seeks to install $1.1 billion of solar panels on site. [Bloomberg]

Harriet Green from IBM elaborates on the value of weather data for the IoT. When it comes to the IoT, adding weather data to every connected device is elevating the digital age to entirely new levels. No person or thing in the world is not affected by weather. It affects everyone and everything, from a person’s mood, the growth of crops, the production of energy to the flight plan of a plane bound from Japan to London. She also brings many interesting examples from different industries. [Forbes]

Scientists caught off-guard by record temperatures linked to climate change. Record temperatures in the first half of 2016 have taken scientists by surprise despite widespread recognition that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense. According to David Carlson, director of the WMO’s climate research program, the question is shifting from ‘has the climate changed?’ to ‘by how much?’. Key to understanding extreme weather will be the availability of data across the globe. [Reuters]