The rapid adoption and acceleration of the use of digital technologies is transforming the way we access and process information, impacting the global economy and our social dynamics. These dramatic technological and social changes also have important environmental and energy implications.
This initiative seeks to catalyze and disseminate research across various disciplines on a number of high-priority issue areas at the intersection of energy, environment, and digital platforms.
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Computation systems with the ability to learn and improve their performance over time are becoming more common. As the scope, complexity, and applications of these self-teaching machine systems expand, they will increasingly influence how we manage energy and the environment.
While the subject of much recent attention, there is little clarity surrounding blockchain’s energy consumption and its potential applications in support of sustainability.
The objects used for daily activities are increasingly interconnected and internet-capable, enabling the objects to share information with each other and with users, from smart home devices that reduce energy and water consumption, to interconnected agricultural devices equipped with soil quality sensors.
Digital sharing platforms such as Lyft, Uber and AirBnB have transformed the economy in numerous ways. Despite their prevalence and scope, we have yet to fully understand how use of these platforms impact a range of important environmental issues.
While the changes that would result from implementing blockchain solutions are worth studying, we also need to gain a deeper understanding of how these blockchain solutions are to be operated and by whom. For more details and project results, see the full paper and accompanying presentation.
Project leads:
Dr. Sara Saberi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Dr. Joseph Sarkis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
This project aims to address the data and analysis gaps by developing a metric-based framework to quantify energy and environmental implications of AI applications in the production of some of the most common energy-intensive chemicals. For more details and project results, see the accompanying presentation.
Project lead:
Dr. Yuan Yao, Yale School of the Environment
Principal investigator Prof. Miguel Jaller will quantify energy use and carbon emissions in retail distribution arising from recent changes to e-commerce during the pandemic. The research will use a retail sector energy and emissions calculator model, based on life cycle assessment, that incorporates factors such as warehousing, upstream freight, retailing store facilities, packaging, last mile distribution, customer transport, and data centers/computers/networks. Prof. Jaller and his research team will explore changes with respect to distribution structures, and innovations in vehicles, fuels, energy, and distribution technologies, and proposed corporate initiatives and commitments.
Project lead(s):
Dr. Miguel Jaller, University of California, Davis.
Ms. Sarah Dennis, Doctoral Student, University of California, Davis.
Mr. Anmol Pahwa, Doctoral Student, University of California, Davis.