The ways in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) can contribute in practice to tackling the effects of climate change and achieving sustainability were mentioned by Ernst and Young (EY) partner, Professor Christos Tarantilis, in the thematic “Digitalization, Smart Cities and Smart Countryside’ of the Green Deal 2024 conference.
Mr. Tarantilis initially focused on the topic of achieving sustainability in agriculture and the use of AI computational models to manage and reduce the indiscriminate use of water resources. As he pointed out, the analysis of large amounts of data collected from different sources (eg soil, weather, crop type and yield data) helps create reliable forecasts of the amount of water demand that will be required for irrigation, thus limiting the non-rational management of water resources. In addition, he spoke about the ability to detect leaks early and predict damage to water networks by analyzing data on water flow, water and pipe temperatures, and pressure in the network, before these leaks become serious and cause significant waste of water resources.
Afterwards, Mr. Tarantilis focused, among other things, on the use of AI to reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides in crops. In particular, he referred to the images collected by satellites and drones, through which TN derives information on the development of diseases and pests in crops, the composition of the soil and the nutritional needs of crops, recommending the use of fertilizers precisely, exclusively where it is judged necessary. In the same context, Mr. Tarantilis spoke about the ability of TN to shape the greenhouse conditions, such as temperature, humidity and light, and to adjust the use of fertilizers and pesticides in such a way as to achieve the maximization of the yield cultivation, at the same time significantly reducing the environmental impact.
Subsequently, Mr. Tarantilis analyzed how IT, by equipping robotic systems, can enhance decision-making in the matter of waste management and recycling, contributing to the identification and categorization of recyclable materials, to the sorting of waste, with high precision and faster than humans.
In closing, Mr. Tarantilis referred to the ways in which IT can contribute to the improvement of natural disaster response and prevention strategies, emphasizing the cause of floods and fires. Regarding the first case, he underlined that TN can analyze large volumes of weather and geographic data in order to identify correlations between these data and the probability of a new flood occurring, thus allowing early warning and careful planning of its prevention. At the same time, he mentioned the important help that can offer the civil protection authorities the use of sensors to monitor in real time the state of water, rainfall and other critical parameters for the occurrence of floods. Accordingly, the collection of data from satellites, drones and sensors helps TN systems to identify fires in time at a very early stage, allowing a faster and therefore more effective response to control and extinguish a fire.
Source: www.enikos.gr
