How AI Might Change the Way We Supply and Consume Energy

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece here in The Wall Street Journal or enjoy below

🗞️ Driving the news: The world is moving towards two crucial technological shifts—green energy and AI-enhanced decision-making: they are deeply interconnected
• AI has long been involved in enhancing engineering and energy delivery 
• However, its increasing complexity means it consumes more energy, leading to a reduction in climate-friendly benefits

🔭 The context: AI plays a crucial role for power companies transitioning from centralized plants to unpredictable sources like wind and solar
• It regulates fluctuations in energy supply, demand, and grid conditions, while also minimizing risks like wildfires caused by equipment failures, by analyzing real-time environmental conditions

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: AI will crucially impact the future home energy systems: using real-time grid data, will minimize pollution by optimizing appliance usage and electric car charging to align with abundant solar and wind resources
• They'll also regulate the consumption, storage, or sale of solar panel electricity to the grid

⏭️ What's next: AI will contribute to the understanding of data for climate advancements
• It rapidly amalgamates and correlates data from various sources, streamlining processes for enhanced outcomes like better crop yields
• AI will also play a central role in developing better batteries by discovering hidden patterns in test results, enabling rapid design iterations

💬 One quote: “Over the decades we have gathered huge amount of data on a range of climate issues [...] however, this knowledge is often spread across highly specialized journals, with data in incompatible formats. AI tools can synthesize and find correlations in that disparate information faster than human researchers” (Kelly Sanders, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, University of Southern California)     

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