scholarly journals The AI Carbon Footprint and Responsibilities of AI Scientists

Philosophies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Guglielmo Tamburrini

This article examines ethical implications of the growing AI carbon footprint, focusing on the fair distribution of prospective responsibilities among groups of involved actors. First, major groups of involved actors are identified, including AI scientists, AI industry, and AI infrastructure providers, from datacenters to electrical energy suppliers. Second, responsibilities of AI scientists concerning climate warming mitigation actions are disentangled from responsibilities of other involved actors. Third, to implement these responsibilities nudging interventions are suggested, leveraging on AI competitive games which would prize research combining better system accuracy with greater computational and energy efficiency. Finally, in addition to the AI carbon footprint, it is argued that another ethical issue with a genuinely global dimension is now emerging in the AI ethics agenda. This issue concerns the threats that AI-powered cyberweapons pose to the digital command, control, and communication infrastructure of nuclear weapons systems.

2014 ◽  
Vol 675-677 ◽  
pp. 1880-1886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro D. Silva ◽  
Pedro Dinis Gaspar ◽  
J. Nunes ◽  
L.P.A Andrade

This paper provides a characterization of the electrical energy consumption of agrifood industries located in the central region of Portugal that use refrigeration systems to ensure the food safety. The study is based on the result analysis of survey data and energy characteristics of the participating companies belonging to the following agrifood sectors: meat, dairy, horticultural, distribution and wine. Through the quantification of energy consumption of companies is possible to determine the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions indexed to its manufacturing process. Comparing the energy and GHGs emissions indexes of companies of a sector and between sectors is possible to create reference levels. With the results of this work is possible to rating the companies in relation to reference levels of energy and GHGs emissions and thus promote the rational use of energy by the application of practice measures for the improvement of the energy efficiency and the reduction of GHGs emissions.


Author(s):  
Behzad Omidi Kashani

The present research is about increasing the energy efficiency ratio (EER) in current direct evaporative coolers (DEC) in Iran. Increasing the cooling load and reducing the electrical energy consumption simultaneously (increasing the energy efficiency ratio (EER)) in DEC are the main goals of manufacturers and consumers of this device. When the circulation water pump runs continuously (static state), the circulation water rate is about 1.89 to 2.90 times of the amounts recommended in the reasonable standards. In order to adjust the circulation water rate to the recommended amount by standards, the present study has utilized repetitive cyclic scheduling programs to reduce the circulation rate to the optimal amount, (by turning the circulation pump on and off by dynamic pattern operation). In other words, the circulation pump stays on only for a certain period of a working cycle, and then the pump stays off for the rest of it. The cooling load and EER were measured based on ASHRAE 133 (2015). The results indicated that the cooling load in the dynamic state increased by 5.03 and 6.18 percent compared to the static state at low and high fan speeds, respectively. Moreover, in comparison with the static state, the amount of electrical energy consumed (kW-hr) in the dynamic state decreased by 8.8 and 4.2 percent at low and high fan speeds, respectively. Finally, the coefficient of performance (COP or EER) of the DEC in the dynamic state is increased by 15.16 and 10.78 in comparison with the static state at low and high fan speeds, respectively.


DYNA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (184) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galo Jose Carrillo-Rojas ◽  
Juan Andrade-Rodas ◽  
Antonio Barragán-Escandón ◽  
Ana Astudillo-Alemán

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 2917-2928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir Kumar Sahoo ◽  
John E. Kumar ◽  
Bhauk Sinha ◽  
Morten Marbaniang ◽  
Rajeshwar N. Sharan

Abstract The present study reports a process for simultaneous mineralization and detoxification of Mordant Black 17 with high electrical energy efficiency. Hydrogen peroxide and ammonium persulphate (APS) were used for the generation of hydroxyl and sulphate radicals using UV light (λ = 254 nm) and Fe2+ and Ag+ ions as catalysts. The detoxification and energy efficiency of various processes were measured by monitoring growth inhibition of Escherichia coli and Electrical Energy per Order (EE/O) applicable for low concentration contaminants respectively. Systems catalyzed by Fe2+ are more energy efficient and possess higher mineralization and detoxification efficiency than that of Ag+. The concentration of the catalysts and oxidants were found to strongly influence the EE/O of the systems. The most cost efficient processes for simultaneous mineralization and detoxification are Fe2+/APS/UV at pH 3.00 and Fe2+/H2O2/UV at pH 3.00 and 5.78. The upper limit concentration of Fe2+ is fixed at 0.01 mM for complete detoxification. The treated solutions start detoxifying at this concentration, above which they remain more toxic than the original dye solution irrespective of the extent of mineralization. On the contrary, no such limit could be established for Ag+ systems for complete detoxification even after 91% mineralization.


Author(s):  
А.Ю. Боташев ◽  
А.А. Мусаев

Одной из разновидностей устройств, осуществляющих импульсные методы обработки давлением, являются двухкамерные устройства для листовой штамповки, использующие в качестве энергоносителя газовоздушные топливные смеси. Подача сжатого воздуха в камеру сгорания в рассматриваемом двухкамерном устройстве для листовой штамповки осуществляется компрессором. Проведен анализ термодинамических процессов, протекающих в камере сгорания и рабочем цилиндре двухкамерного устройства для листовой штамповки. При этом установлено, что энергия, затрачиваемая на работу компрессора, составляет около 45% от энергии, выделяющейся в камере сгорания. Получена зависимость для определения термодинамического КПД двухкамерных устройств для листовой штамповки, величина его составляет около 0,25. Установлено, что энергоэффективность двухкамерных устройств не уступает энергоэффективности традиционного штамповочного оборудования, при этом затраты на энергоносители двухкамерных устройств ниже за счет использования дешевого энергоносителя. В двухкамерном штамповочном устройстве для листовой штамповки электрическая энергия, используемая на работу компрессора, составляет менее 1/3 общей потребляемой энергии устройства. Поэтому при прочих равных условиях расходы на энергоносители будут значительно меньше, чем в штамповочном оборудовании, работающем на электрическом токе One of the types of devices that carry out pulse methods of pressure treatment are two-chamber devices for sheet stamping, using gas-air fuel mixtures as an energy carrier. The supply of compressed air to the combustion chamber in the considered two-chamber device for sheet stamping is carried out by a compressor. We carried out the analysis of thermodynamic processes taking place in the combustion chamber and the working cylinder of a two-chamber device for sheet stamping. We found that the energy spent on the operation of the compressor is about 45% of the energy released in the combustion chamber. We obtained the dependence for determining the thermodynamic efficiency of two-chamber devices for sheet stamping; its value is about 0.25. We established that the energy efficiency of two-chamber devices is not inferior to the energy efficiency of traditional stamping equipment, while the energy costs of two-chamber devices are lower due to the use of a cheap energy carrier. In a two-chamber die-forging device for sheet metal stamping, the electrical energy used to operate the compressor is less than 1/3 of the total energy consumption of the device. Therefore, all other things being equal, the cost of energy carriers will be significantly less than in stamping equipment operating on electric current


Author(s):  
Praveen Cheekatamarla ◽  
Vishaldeep Sharma ◽  
Bo Shen

Abstract Economic and population growth is leading to increased energy demand across all sectors – buildings, transportation, and industry. Adoption of new energy consumers such as electric vehicles could further increase this growth. Sensible utilization of clean renewable energy resources is necessary to sustain this growth. Thermal needs in a building pose a significant challenge to the energy infrastructure. Supporting the current and future building thermal energy needs to offset the total electric demand while lowering the carbon footprint and enhancing the grid flexibility is presented in this study. Performance assessment of heat pumps, renewable energy, non-fossil fuel-based cogeneration systems, and their hybrid configurations was conducted. The impact of design configuration, coefficient of performance (COP), electric grid's primary energy efficiency on the key attributes of total carbon footprint, life cycle costs, operational energy savings, and site-specific primary energy efficiency are analyzed and discussed in detail.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Slonski ◽  
Tobias Schrag

Future buildings will use technologies that are either well-known, innovative, or a combination thereof in order to be environmentally friendly and feasible at the same time. To evaluate and compare such systems through simulation, adaptive tools need to be available. This paper describes a conceived method for planning quarters and settlements. The novelty of this work emerges from the combination of a building simulation with a linear economic optimisation of the energy system, to achieve the energy-plus house standard for a settlement. Furthermore, the tools applied are adaptive or open source. In this article, a hypothetical basic example is given for a predefined idealised settlement, which consists of 132 single-family houses of one building type. The hourly demand for electrical energy and heat is established for three energy-efficiency classes for the building type with a dynamic simulation in MATLAB/SIMULINK using the CARNOT toolbox. This toolbox is also used to calculate the specific electrical energy production by photovoltaics. The components for the energy system of the settlement are implemented in the open source linear optimisation tool URBS. An economic optimum for the energy system of the settlement is found for each of the energy efficiency classes for an accumulated energy demand of the buildings. In this way, a lossless energy hub between the buildings is assumed. The results of the conducted simulations indicate that the optimal ratio of air/water to ground/water heat pumps shifts towards air/water heat pumps with more energy efficient houses. This is due to the lower specific investment costs, which outweigh the operational costs when less energy is required. The lowest costs for the entire energy system are for the one with the most energy efficient settlement. This is the case, as the costs for the higher energy standard of the buildings are not considered in the calculations. The behaviour of the optimisation is tested and discussed through a sensitivity analysis for one efficiency class. By presenting this simple, comprehensible example, an impression of the possible applications for this methodology is conveyed.


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