Giving Compass' Take:

• David G. Victor explores what AI may mean for energy and climate as the technology advances.  

• How can funders help to advance the development of AI for the public good? 

• Learn about using AI to build smart cities. 

AI impacts on energy supply: 

Most visible in the energy and climate space is the impact of AI on how energy is supplied. That’s because more intelligent energy supply systems, in effect, shift outward the supply curves. They take resources that are hard to tap and lower the cost. For example, machine learning systems can improve the ability to map and understand the size and value of underground deposits of oil and gas—in turn, making it easier to tap those resources at lower cost.

The same logic applies not just to traditional hydrocarbons that make up the backbone of the world’s energy system but also new non-hydrocarbon energy supply options.

AI impacts on energy demands and markets:

While it isn’t clear whether AI will favor higher or lower carbon supplies of energy, the impacts of AI on energy demand are easier to pin down. All else being equal, systems that have large amounts of intelligence—and the capacity to update quickly in light of real-world conditions—are probably systems that are a lot more efficient. Efficiency will lower demand for energy and lower emissions.

How AI will improve climate modeling: 

Most human-caused changes in climate are rooted in how we use energy—in particular fossil fuels that, when combusted, intrinsically generate carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus, the changes discussed above—some leading to higher emissions, others to greater efficiency and lower carbon intensity—will affect the rate at which emissions flow into the atmosphere and accumulate. If the central message from the above discussion is that AI makes it possible for energy markets to reflect real-world conditions—and to be more efficient in matching consumer preferences with supplies—then there is no reason to believe that these more efficient markets, on their own, will tackle the carbon problem. Instead, they will require overt policy signals.

Read the full article about how AI will change how we understand energy and climate by David G. Victor at Brookings.