Could artificial intelligence help the UK reach net zero?
A major summit is underway in Devon with experts from around the world
Devon’s hosting a first-of-its-kind summit looking at whether artificial intelligence can help the UK reach net zero.
Academics and researchers from around the world are taking part in the four-day conference which aims to 'bring together a community of researchers who are addressing the challenges of – and seeking ground-breaking solutions to – the delivery of UK Net Zero by 2050'.
Speaking at the event Professor Amy Binner gave an example of how it could help governments make better decisions, saying: "Imgine you have a site where you might put housing.
"You could say should I put housing here, do the benefits outweigh the cost?
"With AI you could instead say 'I need to have 1.5 million new homes but I also need 30 per cent of my land to go to biodiversity' - these are the commitments the Government has - what is a better strategy than putting housing here?"
Professor Timothee Bacri works on projects which help governments decide where to plant trees - and says it’s not as simple as it sounds, adding: "It turns out that in some areas if you plant trees it has a negative effect on carbon because it releases carbon into the atmosphere."
He says - by using AI - they can better determine where is best to dig and how they can release the least amount of carbon being stored in the soil - along with long-term planning for the types of trees and biodiversity needed.
Researchers say while much of the existing strategies could be performed by people, using AI speeds up the process and allows many more factors to be considered as part of decision making.
It is believed that many of the themes explored at the summit could become common practice in the coming years.
Professor Daniel Williamson, from the University of Exeter, said: “With a packed programme of presentations, panel sessions, breakout sessions, lightning talks, hackathons and poster sessions, our first ever AI for Net Zero conference will be a showcase for Exeter’s expertise in environmental science and AI, and would be beneficial to researchers at any stage of their career, who are warmly invited to come along.”
The conference is co-organised by the seven research projects funded through the UKRI AI for NetZero Programme, and is hosted by the University of Exeter’s ADD-TREES project. Researchers from Exeter alongside other leading institutions (Durham, Imperial, UCL, Leicester, Heriot-Watt, Aberystwyth, Surrey) will be among the speakers, alongside policy and industry practitioners, and delegates will include representatives from UKRI, the Alan Turing Institute, and DSIT, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Keynotes will be delivered by Professor Amy Binner from the University of Exeter Business School, Professor Veronica Brown from the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Dr Simon Gardner, Head of Digital Environment at the Natural Environment Research Council, and Saasha Nair, a Senior Tech Policy Advisor at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) who will introduce this year’s Manchester Prize (an annual AI prize this year awarding £1m for Clean Energy projects).