Sustainable Future with 4 Trends in Prominent Digital Technologies

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is affecting national economies and human lives. One of the gravest repercussions of climate change is the threat it poses to economic stability. The resultant increase in frequency at which natural disasters occur, has not only wiped-out communities, but it also devastates human lives by pushing them into absolute poverty. According to World Bank statistics^[1], climate change is expected to inflict poverty onto 100 million more people by 2030, if no interventions are made. Moreover, increased droughts result in shrinking harvests, which further intensify the global problem of food provisioning for everyone.

The UK Government has shown its commitment to the Paris Agreement^[2] by rolling out the world's most ambitious targets, expecting to log a 78% reduction in emissions from 1990, by 2035^[3]. This will bring the UK three-quarters close to achieving the target of the UK's Net Zero Strategy. Besides this, the UK's industrial strategy^[4] has also demonstrated a shift towards expanded focus on planning for sustainable growth. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are seen as a critical driving factor to steer progress on sustainable growth and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)^[5].

One of the UN's SDGs focuses on development of resilient infrastructure to foster innovation and facilitate sustainable industrialization. This is known to have a direct impact on healthcare, poverty reduction and financial inclusion. Although tackling climate change is imperative for a sustainable future, it also presents new economic opportunities for developing a green, sustainable and resilient economy by innovating new technological and capacity building frameworks.

Tele-Presence and Visualization using XR

One significant technological change happening right now is the development and spread of extended reality (XR) technologies; Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR). Once confined to sci-fi novels, these technologies are increasingly adopted by various sectors including manufacturing, supply chain & logistics, medicine, education and professional services.

There continues to be significant work towards teaching the public about sustainability, climate change and the impact on our planet. So why are we not doing enough to change? One answer may be that individuals cannot visualize the effects of climate change. While environmental advocates, governments, and scientists are doing their best to shed light on the urgency of the issue, a 2019 study by Pew Research Center shows that “a median of 20% of people across countries (surveyed) consider global warming a minor threat, while 9% say it is not a threat” ^[6]. So how do we change this? XR can show the effects of climate change and sustainability before the simulation becomes our reality. XR creates a new, exciting, and memorable form of storytelling for improved knowledge retention ^[7].

However, the impact of XR extends far beyond that of visualizing environmental change for education. The rise of VR and AR is enabling people to work and attend meetings remotely, sharing work and collaborating effectively. This in turn reduces the need for centralized office spaces, reduces traffic, road accidents and energy emissions. On average, rush-hour journeys by Londoners produces 1.35 kg of CO₂ per person per day, rising to 2.51 kg in other parts of the UK ^[8]. By replacing traditional business meetings with video conferencing using XR, you can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint. A round-trip flight from London to New York generates about 986 kg of CO₂ per passenger. In contrast, only 12 litres of water and between 150 to 1000 grams of carbon dioxide are produced for 60 minutes of streaming video ^[9]. A recent International Energy Agency (IEA) study showed that working from home is likely to reduce the carbon footprint of people who commute more than 3.73 miles by car. While this would increase energy use by households, the overall impact on global CO₂ emissions would be an annual decline of 24 million tonnes ^[10].

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the national ACEL (Average Commuter Emissions Level) fell by 20% at the peak of lockdown^[11], and the adoption of XR technologies and teleconferencing significantly increased. According to the IEA, between February and April 2020, global internet traffic surged by nearly 40%. However, data centers only accounted for 1% of global electricity usage in 2019, and the IEA expects this to remain true until 2022. This results from data centers becoming more energy-efficient and companies increasingly investing in renewable energy to cool down their servers ^[12].

Climate change and sustainability are ongoing issues and will require change at various societal levels, from the general public to governmental policies. Modern technologies such as XR can enable global communication and collaboration whilst reducing our carbon footprint until long term changes are realized.

Resourcing Information Exchange and Gathering

Data travelling over mobile networks is increasing rapidly as computing power is reaching the hands of more people around the world delivering applications that help billions of people in their daily lives. However, there is an input inherent in delivering this data traffic: the energy needed for running the network infrastructure. Energy consumption is expected to increase dramatically if 5G is deployed in the same way as previous generation of networks, which is not financially and environmentally sustainable. The current yearly global energy cost estimation of running mobile networks is to be USD 25 billion (or £17.7 billion)^[13]. Energy consumption is one of the biggest challenges of telecom industry from cost and carbon footprint perspective.

So, the question arises, is it possible to lower the energy consumption of mobile network from today's level while meeting the increasing data traffic demand? The answer is yes, as recently Ericsson and Telefónica have carried out joint test pilots on energy efficiency features and they were able to show that the 5G technology is up to 90% more efficient than 4G in terms of energy consumption per unit of traffic (Watts per Mbps). According to Ericsson report^[14], Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions have a potential to reduce the global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15% by 2030. Technology and new operating practices transitioning to 5G are the most significant contributors to lowering the carbon footprint of mobile networks. Faster 5G roll out could reduce cumulative carbon emissions by 0.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ by 2030^[15] as the average amount of energy required to transmit data of a 5G cell site is 8-15% that of a like-for-like 4G cell site. Regulators and other national authorities have a key role in ensuring the sustainability of the networks by setting low carbon operational targets, incentivizing the accelerated rollout of 5G, and encouraging efficient and low carbon practices.

Managing Data and Facilitating Knowledge Ecosystem

Real-time capturing and complex processing of environmental data were not possible with archaic systems, limiting the realm of human vision. The perceptive and disruptive characteristics of advanced knowledge generation and management technologies make them revolutionary for climate change and sustainable development. While they provide deeper insights into the finer workings of Earth systems, they also spark technological innovation by empowering futuristic, sustainable ecosystems.

The advent of remote sensing technologies and data-driven citizen science have sparked an era of ‘big data for environmental conservation’ with significant studies being carried out to assess species, population dynamics, and guide conservation management. Analysis of historic and real-time weather data allows prediction of natural disasters, hence saving human lives and preventing destruction. In addition, big data frameworks are extensively used to understand the contribution of industrial activity on the environment by identifying critical environmental shifts such as deforestation^[16]. Such analyses provide abstract information and trends for policy making and future research.

An intuitive and pragmatic utilization of data science lies in the study of ecological impact of the processes involved in production of certain products and their usage. An example of this is gasoline refinement, which can be done through oil sands and North Sea oil^[17]. Multi-dimensional insights can be derived from impact analysis of gasoline refinement from these two sources. For instance, this information can be directly used to assess cumulative ecological impact of the individual processes. Besides this, it can also be used to compare the ecological impact of these two processes to make a data-driven, conscious choice biased towards the eco-friendlier process.

Internet of Things (IoT) has taken data sensing and capturing to another level, providing knowledge systems access to detailed ecosystem data. This data drives information systems such as Smart Grids^[18] and Smart Meters^[19]. Smart Grid reduces carbon footprint in the process of energy generation by as much as 25% ^[20]. Smart Meters, on the other hand, guide changes in our energy habits to make our daily lives eco-friendly. Their contribution can be significant since it is anticipated that 11% of UK’s 2050 carbon emissions^[21] target will be achieved by putting household energy efficiency measures in place.

Synergistic use of technologies such as IoT and big data, along with artificial intelligence in agriculture is known to increase yields by efficient crop and micro-climate monitoring^[22]. These innovations are expected to improve the energy and economic efficiency of the sector by 40%. Similarly, these technologies are being used to protect endangered species and preserve biodiversity by enabling active monitoring without human intervention^[23].

Applications of Dynamic Intelligence

Climate change is the biggest challenge affecting the planet. To respond to this threat, we need to build resilience, make the transition from fossil fuels to a zero-carbon future, act sustainably to protect the planet's precious resources and reduce waste. This can be improved using technology such as artificial intelligence (AI). AI can be deployed in many areas including energy production, CO₂ removal, increase energy efficiency in buildings and develop greener means of transport, etc.

Both heating and cooling systems of our existing houses are notoriously inefficient as they account for more than half of the energy consumed in our everyday living. Many critical systems in future houses can be made radically more efficient with the aid of their usages and operational intelligence. This includes small appliances such as refrigerators^[35] and lightbulbs^[36], as well as other major contributors of energy inefficiency. For example, the lights and heating in our future houses can autonomously adjust how they operate based on whether a building or room is occupied, thereby improving both occupant comfort and energy use. AI can help these systems dynamically adapt to changes in occupancy patterns and can improve public lighting systems by regulating light intensity based on historical patterns of foot traffic^[37].

Electric Vehicle (EV)^[27] technologies using batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, or electrified roads^[28] and railways are regarded as a primary means to decarbonize transport. With the help of Machine Learning (ML), the number of vehicle-miles travelled can be reduced by increasing loading and optimizing vehicle routing^[31]. ML is also playing an essential role in the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs)^[33], which is anticipated to provide environmentally sustainable urban mobility by either having shared ownership of AV or facilitating frequent & reliable ride sharing. In doing so, the on-board computer within AV is required to perform basic tasks such as following the road and detecting obstacles ( e.g. on-coming or neighbouring vehicles, unexpected pedestrians and cyclists), which can be automated with the aid of computer vision^[32]. Small autonomous vehicles, such as delivery robots and drones^[34], could reduce the energy consumption of the last-mile delivery.

Electrification is one of the ways to decarbonize small and medium sized aircraft. In fact, more than 70 companies are planning a first flight of electric air vehicles using AI by 2024. For large aircraft, no alternative to the jet engine currently exists, but radical new aircraft architectures, such as those developed by the Cambridge-MIT Silent Aircraft^[35] Initiative and the NASA N+3 project^[36], show the possibility of reducing CO₂emissions by around 70%. Existing technologies as a way of reducing the carbon emissions, like wind turbines, and developing the next generation of jet engines such as Rolls-Royce’s UltraFan engine^[37], which will enable CO₂ emission reductions of 25% by 2025. ML can help predict runway demand and aircraft taxi time to reduce the excess fuel burned in the air and on the ground due to congestion in airports.

Carbon Tracker^[33] is an independent financial think tank that carries out in-depth analysis on the impact of the energy transition on capital markets and the potential investment in high-cost, carbon-intensive fossil fuels. Companies have also proposed to use satellite imagery to measure power plant CO₂ emissions^[34].

One of the major successes of global efforts in energy and climate policy has been advances in developing low carbon solutions using AI, which is beginning to pay off.

Conclusion

Frontier technologies such as remote sensing, 5G, IoT big data, artificial intelligence and XR have demonstrated their potential in supporting sustainable development and fighting climate change. However, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) have an instrumental role to play in sustainable, inclusive economic growth as they are key to innovation when it comes to development of impactful ICT-enabled solutions.

The SOLVD project supports Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire businesses in the adoption of digital technologies to improve productivity and profit. Experts from the SOLVD team at the University of Wolverhampton can help you explore this potential; contact SOLVD@wlv.ac.uk or visit wlv.ac.uk/SOLVD to find out how digital technologies can help your business.

For more information on how digital technologies can help fight climate change, register for the online TechSevern Virtual Conference, which is taking place on 16^th and 17^th June 2021.

Blog by Dr Adam Worrallo - Research Fellow in Immersive Technologies, Dr Lavanya Srinivasan - Research Fellow in Computer Vision and AI, Dr Muhammad Naeem - Research Fellow in Sensing, Processing and Communication and Dr Samiya Khan - Research Fellow in Big Data, Artificial Intelligence & Edge Computing at The University of Wolverhampton

References

^[1]https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/impacts-of-climate-change

^[2]https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change/

^[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035

^[4]https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/the-uks-industrial-strategy

^[5]https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/backgrounders/Pages/icts-to-achieve-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals.aspx

^[6]https://energycentral.com/c/ee/vr-and-its-impact-sustainability

^[7]https://isee3d.app/blog/how-do-vr-and-ar-affect-environmental-sustainability/

^[8]https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/a-lowcarbon-rushhour-2306487.html

^[9]https://www.euronews.com/green/amp/2021/01/18/turning-off-your-camera-in-video-calls-could-cut-carbon-emissions-by-96

^[10]https://www.iea.org/commentaries/working-from-home-can-save-energy-and-reduce-emissions-but-how-much

^[11]https://airqualitynews.com/2020/09/22/revolutionising-the-commute-is-key-to-reducing-co2-emissions/