Source: Pexels
As global communities aim to keep their decarbonisation pledges, the UK government has allocated £1.73 million to multiple AI projects focusing on developing AI in the renewable sector.
Amanda Solloway, UK Minister for Affordability and Skills, stated that with the help of world-leading researchers, the projects would enhance the renewables sector and energy efficiency by implementing AI in transport, land use, and electricity sectors.
The Robustness of AI Tech
AI has a dynamic computational ability that is necessary in such a data-driven era. As the concept of big data dominates many industries, it's now easier to draw actionable insights about customers from well-informed data analysis. In online entertainment industries, for example, as players interact with multiple variations like Secret Garden slots, gaming platforms can now understand them better. This may include understanding their playstyles, preferences, the parts of the game they play most, etc.
Since these data may be enormous due to the number of users visiting the site, AI's ability to crunch it in real-time offers businesses opportunities to excel in their operations.
Professor Adam Sobey, Alan Turing Institute's Programme Director of Data Centric Engineering, applauded the government for the initiative, stating that AI would help efficiently manage transport and energy systems.
The Source of the Funding
The funding came from a Decarbonisation Innovation Programme, which constitutes part of the £1 billion aimed to put the UK at the top of AI and decarbonisation. The Decarbonisation Innovation Programme is one of the UK's strategies to support the development of AI technologies that play a key role in its transition to net zero.
In just 2023, through the scheme, the government awarded £1 million to 8 winners to establish the UK's AI for Decarbonisation's Virtual Centre for Excellence (ADViCE). The allocations were divided into sections referred to as Stream 1 and Stream 2. For Stream 3 participators, they were further classified into the following classes:
The Electricity Sector
Out of the eight projects that received funding, four focused on renewable energy in the electricity sector. University of Nottingham, which had plans to combine ground-based cameras and satellite images to enhance weather forecasting accuracy for solar energy, was allocated £263,378. Clio Ventures was offered £133,368 to support the implementation of AI in identifying and validating projects that qualify for green finance funding in financial institutions.
Carbon Laces Solutions received £342,999 to help establish smart technology that helps London homes improve energy use and reduce costs. To help companies optimise energy efficiency in their buildings through artificial intelligence, the government awarded £125,100 to Optimise-AI.
Source: Pexels
Transport and Land Use
In the transport sector, of the eight projects, Flexible Power Systems received £209,360 to help implement AI to optimise electric fleet operations and charging schedules. The remaining funds were awarded to three renewable-generation organisations in the land use category. London's Open Power won £313,700 to develop an AI infrastructure for streamlining electricity selling to the grid.
EDF Energy R&D UK Centre was awarded £23,586 to help construct an AI model that was to aid in positioning wind turbines to minimise offshore wind farm space requirements without sacrificing energy production. The AI system was to examine how the wind flows through wind turbines and determine the best locations and arrangements for each turbine.
To assist customers in saving money on energy and lowering their costs in Edinburgh, OnGen was given £326,371 to develop AI software that recommends low-carbon building technologies for buildings.
In summary, the UK continually adopts AI into its economy to enhance efficiency. By utilising AI’s dynamic computation abilities, the UK is set to become a world-leading economy that leverages the power of technology to stay ahead.
