During this live webinar the hosts and speakers discussed how AI and sustainability can create impact together. The session helped envision how to use AI in a way that can contribute to decarbonization while having a positive impact on people and the planet. The topics of the session included:
_ Microsoft's approach to AI for sustainability
_Putting ideas into practice
_ Food Systems & AI, presented by Mondra
_Energy & AI, presented by Terra Praxis
_Water & AI, presented by FIDO Tech
The conversation, hosted by Theresa Yurkewich Hoffmann and Kailani Heilijgers, Microsoft, included:
- Kirsty Gogan, Founding Director and Co-CEO, Terra Praxis
- Tom Holden, Chief Product Officer, Mondra
- Marco DeSanctis, CTO, Microsoft MVP, Cloud transformation, Mondra
- Victoria Edwards, CEO & Founder, FIDO AI
To provide sufficient reliable clean energy by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2050, we will need to deploy very fast and repeatable solutions at costs competitive to oil and gas. Terra Praxis is leading a global REPOWER Consortium—including governments, regulators, academics, nonprofits, finance, and industry stakeholders (and Microsoft)—to execute an integrated strategy to repurpose hundreds of existing coal plant facilities and other energy-intensive infrastructure with advanced nuclear reactors. Repowering coal plants to produce emissions-free power, heat, and steam, leverages existing sites, infrastructure, transmission lines, industry knowledge, workforces, capital, and supply chains to accelerate our global transition to clean energy. Applying analyses of nuclear project cost drivers and advanced reactor economics and markets, lessons learned from the scaling of renewables, and the proven practices of high-productivity industries, REPOWER is collectively iterating a design for manufacture and deployment approach that enables product-based standardization while accommodating coal fleet and heat source diversity (fission, fusion, and geothermal). The key innovations include automated design, seismic isolation, modular building components, using Generative AI for licensing, and a ‘universal adaptor’ heat transfer and storage system. The innovations enable a streamlined "license once, build many” process, eliminating huge costs and delays, a robust global supply chain, and ultimately make the case for investing in nuclear and the clean energy future.