At Climate Week NYC, NVIDIA demonstrated how artificial intelligence and accelerated computing are supporting the shift to cleaner and more efficient energy. Over the past ten years, computers used for running AI have become much more energy efficient. This means that smarter computing can also be more sustainable.
The event brought together people from different fields to explore how AI can make energy use more efficient and help fight climate change. This year’s focus was on energy: discussing where it comes from, how to produce more of it sustainably, and how to make energy grids smarter with AI.
NVIDIA showcased climate technologies and released reports showing the progress in reducing the carbon emissions of their products, specifically their powerful computer chips. These reports are an important step as they track how much energy and emissions are involved in making and operating these products, allowing NVIDIA and others to measure their improvements over time.
AI can help make our energy systems more stable by quickly spotting problems in the grid. This allows operators to respond to issues before they impact everyone. Research shows that if we use AI across major areas like industry, transportation, and buildings, we could save about 4.5 percent of all the energy needed by 2035. For example, AI can help reduce energy use in manufacturing materials like steel, cement, and chemicals, and improve efficiency in cars, buses, shipping, and even residential buildings.
Startups are also teaming up with NVIDIA to build new designs for data centers, known as AI factories. These centers are optimized to use energy as efficiently as possible, and every improvement helps unlock more capacity in our energy grids. Initiatives like these aim to show that AI can adjust its power use and work hand in hand with renewable energy sources for a cleaner future.
NVIDIA is making its own operations greener too. For example, they now power all their offices and data centers with renewable energy. Their latest hardware has a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to previous models. Continuing this trend, they plan to publish new updates showing how their products are getting even more environmentally friendly.
AI is also being used in detailed climate and weather modeling. These models help energy companies predict and prepare for storms, manage power from wind turbines, and balance energy demand with supply from solar panels. This can help keep lights on and costs down while making it easier to use more renewable energy. NVIDIA's Earth 2 platform gives developers tools to build and visualize large-scale weather and climate simulations—for a wide range of applications from disaster response to optimizing renewable power.
Through these improvements, NVIDIA and its partners are proving that technology and sustainability can go hand in hand. AI is not just about smarter computers; it is also a powerful tool for building a cleaner, more reliable energy future.
Original article and image: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/ai-energy-innovation-climate-research/
