A lot of hope is being put into the ability of modern and constantly improving technologies, such as Artifical Intelligence (AI), to be able to help solve modern problems. One such problem, or a collection of problems really, is the climate crisis. So, here is a quick runthrough of how AI can be used to help solve, manage or mitigate problems related to the climate crisis:
Improved customer segmentation and customer shopping recommendations to encourage people to buy environmentally friendly products
- AI and machine learning algorithms can be used to understand consumer buying habits
- This can be applied specifically to the purchases of everyday products so consumers can be given recommendations on products they like but more environmentally friendly alternatives
- It is also possible to build consumer profiles and personas and recommend products to people based on what other people with similar likes and tastes to that person have bought
Improve detection of areas with problems of deforestation
- Deforestation is an issue as it contributes to a worrying amount of greenhouse gas emission
- Computer vision from images from satellites can be used to detect where deforestation is happening in real time
- This can then be used to either stop this activity before its too late and can be used to perhaps also plant more trees in there
Improved delivery routing and supply chain management
- Machine learning and other techniques can be used to shorten the paths in navigation systems from point A to point B
- This can effectively reduced the amount petrol used by cars due to the shorter journey distances
- This can be used by people on a daily basis but of course also by delivery trucks
Weather forecasts
- Weather forecasts these days are done with more usage of machine learning algorithms
- These weather forecasts can be used to better allocate energy at places when they are needed e.g. less energy can be allocated to some city at times when the weather is expected to shift from cold to more warm
Improved usage of energy within individual buildings
- Nowadays it is possible to study the energy usage patterns of individual houses or apartments
- It is therefore possible to optimise how energy is used up by individuals and adjust to their lifestyle
- For example, at times when someone is usually at work, everything consuming electricity can be switched on and for example, an hour before they would usually arrive home, the heating can be turned on to ensure the place is warm
Improvement of battery usage among electric cars
- It has been reported that machine learning algorithms can be used to better manage the usage of the energy from the battery in the car
- It is also possible to optimise the amount that a car is charged for in each charging session to ensure the right amount is taken just to cover the journey to the desired destination, although this does have its risk as it would usually be better to charge more just in case
Discovery of new materials
- As in any scientific field, machine learning and AI is used to simulate and help improve the development of new materials
- This is useful in the sense that it helps to speed up the discovery, testing and development of new materials that could be used to store or use up energy in a more effective way
