ISTM #58: AI’s Clean 13 for Climate Change

Two of my greatest passions for many years have been the environment and climate change. So, when I was asked to ghostwrite a book about how AI could reduce  Climate Change a couple of years back, I got pretty excited.

We started with the premise that it was not realistic to suggest AI could actually reverse climate change, but it might still be able to slow the pace of environmental deterioration, and that could buy us more time, and with it, perhaps AI would evolve far enough to start reversing climate change.

But the project soon fizzled. After a couple of months, my client ran out of money, but that was a problem we might have worked out. The second issue was even more daunting. While we found a few promising AI start-ups that showed anecdotal evidence of AI addressing environmental issues, there was a paucity of hard evidence to raise hopes that AI might slow environmental deterioration.

We abandoned the project, and I moved on.  Shortly after that, ChatGPT 3.5 hit the world like rolling thunder. It was as if we all went to bed one night and woke up to find ourselves in the new Age of AI.

While it is difficult to measure how--or if--AI is slowing climate change, numerous enterprises are now demonstrating success. It took me less than an hour on ChatGPT and Perplexity to compile a list of impressive efforts by tech companies of all sizes using AI to slow ecological deterioration.

I did not find sufficient evidence that we can all proclaim victory and sing Happy Days Are Here Again. However, I now see glimmers of hope that I didn’t detect two years ago, all of it driven by AI.

AI is moving so fast that it might eventually be able to reverse the climate threat rather than just buy more time.

I did not probe deeply into the 13 companies I selected. That would have taken hours or perhaps even days. I chose them because they were listed by either one or both of the Gen AI I used. I learned more by going to their sites. They are listed randomly, and not by achievement.

My Clean 13

1.     Google DeepMind, uses AI to improve the energy efficiency in Google's data centers, significantly reducing cooling costs and carbon emissions. It is also experimenting with using DeepMind to make wind power more efficient.

2.    IBM Green Horizons is used by governments worldwide for environmental management, forecasting, pollution prediction, managing renewable resources, and optimizing energy consumption. It's being used in China and the EU to improve air quality and renewable energy and is reporting favorable—if not dramatic—results.

3.    AI for Earth provides cloud and AI tools to large enterprises that face environmental challenges in agriculture, biodiversity, conservation, water, and climate change, aiming to accelerate innovation in these areas.

4.    ClimateAI. This startup AI platform is used in agriculture and water management to adapt to climate change by predicting environmental risks long in advance, hopefully long enough to slow or offset the process.

5.    My Client uses satellite imagery and AI to identify and quantify CO2 emissions from power plants. This technology enables authorities to enforce environmental policies and perhaps help companies transition toward cleaner energy sources.

6.    CarbonBright provides fast and scalable lifecycle assessments, enabling companies to measure, analyze, and reduce negative environmental product impacts.

7.     Pachama uses AI and remote sensors to verify and monitor carbon capture and storage in forests. Their platform aims to make it easier for companies to invest in responsible forest projects to offset their carbon footprint.

8.    Saildrone makes autonomous marine drones that cruise the most remote sectors of oceans to collect and analyze data on acidity, a major contributor to excessive CO2 in the climate. Still, in its early stages, observers are optimistic about its future.

9.    WattTime makes smart devices that determine the cleanest fossil fuels for corporate customers.  Its data is used to monitor acidity, a major cause of climate change. The company website claims its technology could reduce nine gigatons per year.

10. Envision Digital provides an AI platform for managing and optimizing energy assets and grids for efficiency and sustainability. It supports renewable energy integration, energy storage optimization, and smart city initiatives.

11.  Planet Labs uses AI and satellite imagery to monitor changes on the Earth's surface, such as deforestation, urbanization, and melting ice caps. This is crucial for climate research and developing strategies to mitigate climate change impacts.

12.  Refiberd uses AI for textile recycling. This reduces the consumption of new materials, particularly non-biodegradable synthetics, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diverting waste from landfills, and reducing water consumption. The result is to conserve resources, reduce energy consumption, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions, all of which contribute to mitigating climate change.

13.  AgroScout uses what it calls Agricultural Intelligence (AI) for sustainable farming. It uses what the rest of us call AI to reduce chemical applications, increase nutrient efficiency, and improve irrigation practices, helping farmers reduce their carbon footprints and other greenhouse gases such as methane.

Each of these is actually slowing climate change today, although it is impossible to measure by how much. Perhaps AI will figure that out as well. What is clear already is that AI is taking a few small decisive and vital steps for humankind and the planet we have so dangerously abused.

According to Perplexity, some experts say that the Climate Change problem will be irreversible if we don’t start slowing it down within the next dozen years. However, those predictions cannot take into account the blinding speed at which AI is evolving.

We need that speed because there really isn’t a moment to lose.

AI is evolving so fast that it might just buy us the time to start reversing climate change. What AI has accomplished in the last two years is impressive, but it is obviously not enough.

But, as the late Steve Jobs used to say: “It’s a start.”

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Shel Israel writes books, articles, presentations, and white papers for executives, mostly from the tech industry. He is the author of six tech business books under his own name. Text (6504304042) or email (Shel@shelisrael.com) him.