December 2022

Welcome to the Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment’s December 2022 newsletter. Here are the highlights from the last month:
 

Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Compliance | Measuring the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence compute and applications | EGDC Session At COP27

News

“Measuring the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence compute and applications” - Report 

On November 15, 2022, the OECD released a report led by Johannes Leon Kirnberger and Celine Caira. The report, which outlines the impacts of AI on the planet and how those impacts can be measured, was released at COP27. The report recommends the establishment of measurement standards, expanding data collection, identifying AI-specific impacts, expanding research beyond operational energy use and emissions, and promoting transparency and environmental equity to make AI part of the solution for climate action. You can find the report here. Watch the presentation and panel discussion from the COP27 session here.  

Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Compliance – Podcast 

The Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment’s co-founder, the Environmental Law Institute, released a podcast on the use of AI and machine learning in environmental compliance and enforcement. ELI interviewed Jed Anderson, founder of Enviro AI to learn more about the benefits and challenges of using AI for environmental compliance and enforcement. Listen here on all major podcast platforms.  

EGDC Session At COP27 

In November, the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) met with members of the COP27 conference during a session hosted by the UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub Pavilion. During the session, EGDC presented several real-life case studies investigating the impacts of digital solutions on the environment. The EGDC panelists highlighted the need for further research of this kind and stronger collaboration to improve data availability. Watch the session here.  

Opportunities
 

Climate Change AI Innovation Grants 

Climate Change AI has announced the opening of their 2023 Innovation Grants program. This program is supported by DeepMind and Quadrature Climate Foundation. Climate Change AI will fund year-long research projects at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. The maximum amount per grant is U.S. $150,000. The submission deadline is March 1, 2023. Learn more about this opportunity.  

CCAI volunteer matching   

Climate Change AI has announced an opportunity to connect NGOs and academic labs running climate-related projects with machine learning (ML) research volunteers. If your climate project needs help with ML implementation and wants support, click here to read more about the work and how to submit a project proposal.  

Call for Papers: Computational Methods and Artificial Intelligence Applications in Low Carbon Energy Systems

The Institute for Engineering and Technology has announced a call for papers for a special issue of the journal, ET Renewable Power Generation on new and effective computational methods and artificial intelligence applications for the management of low carbon energy systems. Read more about the opportunity here. 

Researcher Highlight

Johannes Leon Kirnberger

Johannes Leon Kirnberger co-leads the program on climate action and biodiversity preservation at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and the International Centre of Expertise in Montreal on AI (CEIMIA). He is also a consultant on AI and sustainability at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Johannes is a member of the UNEP Expert Group on Digital Tech for Circular Economy, where he co-develops a digital transformation roadmap for catalyzing digital technologies to accelerate a circular economy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from ESCP Business School, a Master’s degree on International Public Management from Sciences Po, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs, Energy and Environment from Columbia University. Read more.  

Upcoming Events

Climate change and AI within the tech industry, hosted by Climate Change AI (December 15, 2022) 

AI at the intersection of species conservation and climate action, hosted by AI for Good (December 15, 2022)  

For all events, see https://www.networkdee.org/upcoming-events

New Jobs!

Postdoctoral Researcher Program - Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Program, University of California, San Diego (Deadline: December 15, 2022)  

Postdoctoral Researcher/Research Technician - Opportunity on AI for Coastal Wind Modelling, University of Valencia (Deadline: January 1, 2023)  

Postdoctoral Associate - Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University (Deadline: June 30, 2023)  

Multiple Positions - Computational Modeling of Coupled Energy-economy-climate systems, European Institute on Economics and the Environment (Deadline: September 30, 2023) 

Internship - Machine Learning and Computational Chemistry and Materials, Mila (Deadline: Unknown)

Recent Media We've Been Following

“Climate tech startup AiDash gets $10M funding from Schneider Electric,” SiliconANGLE, November 2, 2022 

“Playing dangerously: The environmental impact of video gaming consoles,” World Economic Forum, November 4, 2022 

“How One Company Used Data to Create Sustainable Take-out Food Packaging,” Harvard Business Review, November 11, 2022 

“EPA Acknowledges Plans to Look at Crypto Energy Usage, Emissions,” Bloomberg Law, November 21, 2022 

“New York Enacts 2-Year Ban on Some Crypto-Mining Operations,” The New York Times, November 22, 2022  

“After the #CryptoCrash, Will Bitcoin’s Climate Crash Be Next?” Greenpeace USA, November 23, 2022 

“The implementation and effectiveness of geographic information systems and location intelligence technology in digital agriculture,” The Times of India, November 27, 2022  

“Bitcoin Miners Forced to Report Energy Use in Proposed Bill,” Bloomberg, December 8, 2022

Publications We've Been Reading

Vries, A. D. (2022). Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin. Patterns, 0(0). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2022.100633

Makov, T., Meshulam, T., Cansoy, M., Shepon, A., & Schor, J. B. (2023). Digital food sharing and food insecurity in the COVID-19 era. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 189, 106735. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106735

Yuan, Grace Ning, Gian Powell B. Marquez, Haoran Deng, Anastasiia Iu, Melisa Fabella, Reginald B. Salonga, Fitrio Ashardiono, and Joyce A. Cartagena. "A review on urban agriculture: technology, socio-economy, and policy." Heliyon (2022). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11583 

de Beer, Jeremy. Oguamanam, Chidi. Ubalijoro, Éliane. “Ownership, Control, and Governance of the Benefits of Data for Food and Agriculture: A Conceptual Analysis and Strategic Framework for Governance.” Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition. Future Earth Canada Hub. Sustainability in the Digital Age. (2022). Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7054790 

We’re on Twitter and LinkedIn!

The nDEE recently launched a Twitter and LinkedIn. Follow us to get our updates!

The nDEE Bibliography

The nDEE has been curating a bibliography of references relating to the digital economy and the environment. If you have references you feel should be included in our bibliography, please reach out and let us know! 

Before you go!

The mission of the nDEE is to catalyze research around the environmental and energy impacts of the digital economy. If you have any news, events, or opportunities that you’d like us to share out through the newsletter please contact us at info@networkdee.org. We also welcome feedback on our newsletter, website, or anything else. We hope to hear from you!