New study finds that biodiversity decline is unprecedented. Links to climate change, and other root causes.
Video here: https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/9/shocking_un_report_warns_up_to.
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U-M President Schlissel: “I am committed during my presidency to putting U-M on a trajectory towards carbon neutrality”
Citing regional collaboration and replicability, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel commits to net carbon neutrality during his presidency. From the University Record article:
Speaking at his annual Leadership Breakfast, Schlissel said he would appoint a commission in the coming months to develop a plan that includes specific strategies and a timeline for the university to achieve carbon neutrality in a fiscally responsible manner.
“Throughout our history, we’ve always strived to impact society in profound ways. I’d like to figure out how to do this in partnership with Ann Arbor, and with other regional stakeholders, in a fashion that can be replicated by others all around our state and around the nation.”
BBC: “Five things we have learned from the IPCC report”
Full BBC article about the IPCC special report can be found here.
There’s no doubt that this dense, science-heavy, 33-page summary is the most significant warning about the impact of climate change in 20 years.
“It is seriously alarming,” Amjad Abdulla, a lead author on one of the chapters from the Maldives, told BBC News.
“The small islands will be the first, but nobody can escape; it is quite clear.”
But while the warnings about the dangers of letting temperatures go beyond 1.5C are dire, the report says, surprisingly perhaps, that the world can keep below the limit.
“We face a really large challenge but it is not impossible to limit warming to 1.5 degrees,” said Dr Natalie Mahowald, an IPCC author
PwC: Fourth Industrial Age & Planetary Health
What is the AI opportunity for the environment?
Digital Transformation in Energy and Utilities: The Perspective of Amazon Web Services (AWS) – IoT and Rethinking SCADA
AI and Energy Efficiency in Buildings
From the Nvidia article:
“AI is extending into every facet of our lives: how we travel, how we produce food, how we work, how we live” …“Smart buildings are one of the most valuable and largest opportunities for this trend.”
Report: “Digital Efficiency: Driving Decarbonization and Unlocking Business Value Across Industries”
New report by Intel and GE describes some scenarios for how digital technologies can reduce emissions and cut costs in the fourth industrial age.
One example is wind farm efficiency:
For example, GE’s PowerUp Platform has been extended to become the Digital Wind Farm. With this solution, GE extends analytics and optimization beyond a single wind turbine to the entire wind farm. GE harnessed the power of the emerging Industrial Internet to create the Digital Wind Farm, a dynamic, connected, and adaptable wind energy platform that pairs wind turbines in a wind farm with digital infrastructure to optimize efficiency across the entire wind farm. This platform can account for the wind farm’s topology, surrounding geography, wake effects, and other inputs to control individual wind turbines and optimize the operation as a whole. Through these techniques, the Digital Wind Farm technology boosts a wind farm’s energy production by up to 20 percent and could help generate up to an estimated $50 billion value for the wind industry. The Digital Wind Farm uses interconnected digital technology to address a long-standing need for greater flexibility in renewable power.
Overall, the report’s projections show significant potential, though much work is needed to translate potential into reality.
