While rapidly growing cities in developing countries develop and modernize, they need better ways to assess their future energy consumption and adapt to an evolving climate. New tools developed with artificial intelligence by IBM’s impact accelerator and company partner organizations offer managers and planners both a current vision of their cities and probable development forecasts.
“Energy demand increases not only according to the number of people who live there, but also according to what is constructed,” said Michael Jacobs, head of social innovation at IBM, said Nowsweek. “You can plan the request by analyzing what is constructed where.”
Jacobs and his colleagues have worked with the United Nations Program for Development and Sustainable Energy for all, an independent non -profit organization, to offer data tools to follow and predict associated growth and energy demand.
The team used IBM to analyze satellite images and data from the German aerospace center. They then aligned these images with census information and other data sets on the size and use of the building to create precise and detailed digital cards of certain cities in Africa and India. This was the basis of an interactive online platform called Open Building Insights (OBI), which was launched in November at the United Nations Cop29 Climate Conference.
OBI includes an AI tool called Urban Growth Modeling which provides the types of buildings that will be built and where, helping civil servants and stakeholders to make more enlightened decisions on sustainable development. “Government and development agencies can see around the corner and invest now to meet the needs of tomorrow,” said Jacobs.
IBM’s work has earned them a place among the winners of NowsweekThe first IA Impact prizes, which celebrate organizations that stimulate an exceptional impact thanks to the strategic and ethical use of AI technologies.
Registration for the competition came from various industries and have contributed more than a dozen respective categories, including those focused on sustainability, health care and customer service. The 38 winners in total were selected by a panel of IA and material experts. The winners were also invited to NowsweekSummit on the impact of AI, from June 23 to 25 in Sonoma, California. The window promises three days of conversations and presentations on the revolutionary deployment of the AI.
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IBM has worked with sustainable energy for everyone and another non -profit, the World Resources Institute, to implement the use of OBI in Nairobi, Kenya, where local officials use the tool in the development of an energy plan.
Kenya is about to fill an ambitious target of 100% clean energy by 2030. The country already receives around 90% of its electricity from carbon -free sources or low carbon content, largely thanks to robust geothermal and hydroelectric energy.
But a swollen population and an economy will question the power supply. Nairobi, now with an estimated population of almost 6 million people, should have an annual population growth of more than 4% in the coming years, according to the UN.
Jacobs said OBI can help integrate energy development into city growth.
“You can design specific buildings for specific places to optimize where they are in the electrical network or for the amount of solar energy on the roof that you can install,” he said.
Solar energy is a small but increasing part of Kenya’s power supply, and the detailed information that OBI offers on buildings can promote solar deployment in an urban environment, said Jacobs.
With the kind authorization of IBM
“The roof profile, its area in square feet, its angle, its position, everything that has really important implications on the quantity of solar energy that you will be able to produce,” he said.
The OBI will also be used in India, where the large -scale deployment of solar on the roof is an initiative at the national level.
India climate and energy forecasts include a problematic feedback loop between warming, energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. As some parts of the country become warmer due to climate change, the use of air conditioning increases, which is in fact, in fact, that the International Energy Agency said that the use of air conditioning will be a leading contributor to global electricity demand.
India is among the largest producers and consumers of electricity in the world and while renewable sources are increasing, coal always dominates the fuel mixture in India. This means that a greater demand for electricity for air conditioning will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants, at least in the short term, until clean energy sources move coal and other fossil fuels.
Jacobs said that OBI can help, both helping the development of solar energy and helping cities to better deal with temperature increase.
“We explore how to use the tool to develop a heat vulnerability index, because once again, the dynamics of building design can have very important impacts on localized heat,” he said. With a better understanding of the buildings of their cities (and future buildings), managers can anticipate energy needs and public infrastructure, such as cooling centers, to help communities to adapt to extreme heat which becomes more common with climate change.
Jacobs said that modeling geospatial data is only one ways in which IBM applies AI to climatic impacts. He said AI can also help share vital information during extreme weather -oriented weather events, and AI assisted research promises to speed up the development of new materials that could be important for clean technology.
“The AI will be an integral part of resolving climatic challenges,” he said. “And IBM is a company focused on solutions.”
To see the full list of IA impact winners, visit the IA Impact Prix Page from Newsweek.
Nowsweek Continue the conversation on significant AI innovations at our IA impact summit from June 23 to 25 in Sonoma, California. Click here For more information and to register for the event.
