ECO Friendly Living USA

Travel writer
Rugged yet accessible, Newfoundland and Labrador is home to Canada’s most easterly national park and dark sky preserve. The island of Newfoundland’s remarkable geology enables visitors to view fossilised lifeforms from more than half a billion years ago and gaze along steep-sided fjords. White-water rafting, snorkeling with whales and guided caving count among the long list of awesome eco-tours which visitors can experience in the province.
How about rolling over the side of a Zodiac boat bobbing in the Atlantic to snorkel near humpback whales? If you’re a capable swimmer this is an option five mornings a week (not Tuesdays and Wednesdays) from Petty Harbour, a 15 minute drive south of St. John’s. Non-snorkelers can stay aboard the boat.
Ocean Quest Adventures operate marine wildlife snorkeling tours from May to mid-September. July is typically the best month for humpback sightings.
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A wetsuit and snorkeling gear are provided. The three-hour tour also showcases nesting seabirds and coastline geology near Petty Harbour.
Afterwards pop into the waterfront Chafe’s Landing Restaurant for lunch. Seafood chowder, a speciality of Atlantic Canada, plus fish and chips feature on the menu.
You can get to swim with humpback whales in the Atlantic | © David Kirkland/Axiom / Alamy Stock Photo
Looking for a rocking time? Guided hikes start from the Edge of Avalon Interpretative Centre, 136km (85mi) south of St. John’s, to view Ediacaran Period fossils of long-extinct creatures and plants.
The stratified, sea-lashed cliffs of Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve formed part of the ocean floor 560m- 580m years ago. Natural erosion has revealed the world’s oldest complex lifeform fossils, the reason this is a Unesco World Heritage site.
From mid-May until mid-October, hikes lasting up to four hours begin daily at 10.30am and 12.30pm. Even in midsummer, sturdy footwear and layered clothing will prove useful.
If you appreciate maritime history, then a visit to nearby Cape Race Lighthouse is a must. The wireless station here was the first on land to receive the Titanic’s distress signals after she clipped an iceberg in 1912.
Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is the place for terrific fossil hunting | © All Canada Photos / Alamy Stock Photo
Terra Nova National Park is three hours’ drive northwest of St. John’s. Waterfront glamping at Malady Head or Newman Sound means you’re well-placed to hike the park’s 10 self-guided trails. Paddle a rented kayak to appreciate the sounds of birdlife and rustling waterfront foliage while exploring coastal inlets.
In 2018 Terra Nova became Newfoundland and Labrador’s first dark sky preserve. Low light pollution means there is a good chance of seeing the Milky Way as you sit outside under the night sky. If you’re here during the Perseids meteor shower in mid-August, you can enjoy watching shooting stars blaze across the sky.
Don’t worry if you don’t know much about astronomy – you can borrow a night sky kit from the activity centre. The kits include binoculars plus tips on where to look.
Terra Nova National Park is so remote, at night you can sit and watch the stars | © George Ostertag / Alamy Stock Photo
Visit Corduroy Brook Nature Centre in Grand Falls-Windsor between June and September for an introduction to the region’s wetland wildlife. Beavers count among the creatures you may spot on more than 20km (12.5mi) of nature trails. Set aside a couple of hours to discover the measures in place to provide healthy habitat for migrating Atlantic salmon at the town’s Salmonid Interpretation Centre.
The salmon swim up Exploits River to their traditional spawning ground. Even if you’re a novice or a non-swimmer, you can travel down the river on a guided white-water rafting tour with Badger Chute Run. Pack ecofriendly waterproof sunscreen for trips on sunny days.
Prefer a hit of adrenaline? Rafting over the island’s biggest rapids begins with you plunging off a 15ft (5m) cliff to board the vessel. Be prepared to get wet while bouncing along the foaming waterway.
Prepare to get wet on a white-water rafting tour | © Don White / Alamy Stock Photo
The Hew and Draw Hotel has boutique suites in Corner Brook and an onsite craft brewery. Why not build a thirst during an orientation walk on the circular Corner Brook Stream Trail?
Pack clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty if you plan on crouching and crawling through Corner Brook caves. The entrance is 1.25mi (2km) west of town. Book a guided caving tour where you’ll be accompanied by an expert who knows their way between the underground caverns.
From Corner Brook, its about 12.5mi (20km) to the open wetlands and woodland of Little Grand Lake Provisional Ecological Reserve. The reserve provides habitat to endangered Newfoundland martens. If you’re a keen wildlife and nature photographer, take a guided multi-day hike and photo tour for an insightful backwoods experience with opportunities to create memorable images.
Book a caving tour or go on a stream trail at Corner Brook | © Maarten24 / Stockimo / Alamy Stock Photo
Burnt Hill Cottages are well placed for exploring Gros Morne National Park. Shops in the nearby town of Rocky Harbour are worth where you can stock up for picnics.
Arrive at the Norris Point waterfront 15 minutes before your scheduled departure to board the BonTours catamaran for tours of Bonne Bay. Sailings into the Gulf of St Lawrence operate throughout June to September’s end.
A light-hearted yet informative live commentary highlights natural landmarks such as the windswept top of Gros Morne Mountain. You may see creatures including minke whales, moose and bald eagles, so binoculars can prove handy.
You’ll also have the chance to become an honorary Newfoundlander during the cruise. Screech-in ceremonies involve donning a sou’wester hat, kissing a cod and downing a shot of rum.
Your guide will help you spot wild- and marine life on a boat tour round Norris Point | © All Canada Photos / Alamy Stock Photo
Well-marked hiking trails allow you to explore Gros Morne National Park at your own pace. The Unesco World Heritage site’s wilderness landscape features tundra and freshwater fjords. Set aside half a day to skirt through woodland into a glacial valley on the 8mi (14km) Trout River Pond Trail.
Taking to the water offers a different perspective. Western Brook Pond’s steep, semi-wooded sides were also sculpted by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. Between June and September two-hour boat tours of the fjord depart from Rocky Harbour’s Ocean View Hotel and include the national park fee.
Prepare to walk up to 45 minutes from the car park to the boat jetty. Tours of the 10mi (16km) fjord take you to the top of Pissing Mare Falls, the province’s highest waterfall.
The scenery in Gros Morne National Park is nothing short of spectacular | © All Canada Photos / Alamy Stock Photo
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Offering a choice of one or two bedrooms, these spacious cabins provide you with a fully equipped kitchen. You can make use of complimentary parking and sit chatting around the communal firepit. A 10-minute drive from Rocky Harbour, the cottages are well placed for exploring nearby beaches and enjoying views of Bonne Bay.
Budget Hotel
Located in the pretty region of Corner Brook, known around the world as one of the best places to live, Greenwood Inn & Suites is based among the buzz of the city with ocean and mountain scenery on its doorstep. Start your day with a quick dip in the indoor pool before wandering into the city centre for a spot of breakfast.
Our immersive trips, led by Local Insiders, are once-in-a-lifetime experiences and an invitation to travel the world with like-minded explorers. Our Travel Experts are on hand to help you make perfect memories. All our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
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Messages from United Nations Officials for World Environment Day  UNEP
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The Kinross Gold Corp. 2023 sustainability report details the company’s sustainability, environmental, social and governance goals companywide, including those in Nevada.
Kinross Gold Corp. has released its 2023 sustainability report that provides a summary of the company’s progress in furthering its sustainability and environmental, social and governance goals companywide, including those in Nevada.
“At Kinross, sustainability is a key consideration in all facets of our business, and we focus on getting it right at all stages of the mining process, from exploration through to development, operations and mine closure,” said J. Paul Rollinson, the company’s chief executive officer.
“In 2022, we launched an updated ESG strategy focusing on three key pillars — workforce and community, natural capital and climate and energy — setting new target objectives within each. Over the past year, we have executed on that strategy, with excellent results both operationally and from a sustainability perspective,” he said in the May 29 announcement.
Rollinson said the company continues to advance “our people-centric safety programs and culture, prioritize environmental stewardship and contribute meaningful and sustainable benefits to our host communities with $4.1 billion spent in 2023.”
The report that covers the goals and progress at its operations, stated that the Bald Mountain Mine in Nevada “has a track record of reclamation excellence and has been recognized for its leadership on concurrent mine reclamation, including as the recipient of the 2022 award for Leadership in Concurrent Mine Reclamation, and the reclamation and conservation efforts continued in early 2023.
The award is from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada Division of Minerals, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
“Faced with record snowfall amounts, Bald Mountain undertook snow clearing activities to support mule deer protection measures at site, facilitating the movement of mule deer populations under difficult conditions,” the report says.
Kinross also says that Bald Mountain continued to participate in Nevada’s Sage Grouse Conservation Protection System in 2023, and of the 23,314.4 acres of ranchland owned by the mine, 89% remain enrolled and protected under the credit conservation system.
The open pit, heap leach operation also works to protect other wildlife, including eagles and wild horses by maintaining fencing and coverings around and on process ponds, as well as activity buffers around migratory bird nets, according to the sustainability report.
The report additionally states that “Round Mountain is looking at a potential transition from surface to underground mining towards the end of the decade, with consequent implications for jobs and local tax contributions. The site has begun engagements with local stakeholders on this topic and is initiating studies to assess stakeholder views regarding the future.”
Kinross operations in Nevada are involved with the Western Shoshone tribes, and the report states that includes active participation in community events such as the Duckwater Spring Festival Cleanup Day.
Toronto-based Kinross listed highlights of the report that include under its workforce and community goal that the company maintained low injury frequency rates that were in line with three-year averages at its operations, and all the sites implemented the company’s Safety Excellence Program in 2023.
The company additionally stated that it sustained high levels of local employment, with 99% of the company’s workforce and roughly 92% of management from the host countries, and that Kinross achieved 14% female representation in its workforce in 2023, the highest level to date.
Community involvement in the United States involved roughly $1.4 million in monetary contributions and $1.3 million in in-kind donations. Along with Bald Mountain and Round Mountain in Nevada, U.S. sites include the Fort Knox Mine in Alaska, the new Manh Choh operation, nearly 250 miles southeast of Fort Knox, and the Curlew exploration project in Washington State.
Kinross stated that it maintained a 31st year of zero material reportable incidents at tailings sites, recycled 82% of water used in gold production, recycled 57% of waste, and advanced green energy projects, such as the solar plant at the Tasiast Mine in Mauritania.
The company also reduced greenhouse gas emissions, continuing on track for a 30% reduction of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions on a per gold equivalent ounce basis by 2030 and increased consumption of electricity from renewable sources at Paracatu in Brazil and La Coipa in Chile.

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The Kinross Gold Corp. 2023 sustainability report details the company’s sustainability, environmental, social and governance goals companywide, including those in Nevada.
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Posted by Jan Wondra | Jun 1, 2024
 
Greenland ice sheets are melting, and the pace of melt is speeding up. Image courtesy of Medium.com
The world’s oceans are shattering heat records, and the subcontinent of India is in the grip of a historic heat wave that is responsible for mounting deaths, water shortages, and destructive wildfires. India is reporting a surge in heat-related illnesses and deaths. Across much of the country, daytime highs hover around 120 degrees and nighttime temperatures don’t drop below 90 degrees. India has always been warm — but not this hot.
In New Delhi this week, recorded temperatures reached 126 degrees Fahrenheit, (52 Celsius) breaking all-time records.
The backdrop to India’s misery: oceans around the world have broken temperature records every single day for the past year. To be entirely factual, the entire planet has been hotter every month, than prior recorded temperatures. Until now, the oceans have been our planet’s air conditioning; absorbing most of the heat that our dependence upon fossil fuels has merrily pumped into this watery sponge. But something is happening and it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average global sea surface temperature reached a new monthly high of 21.07 degrees Celsius (69.93 degrees Fahrenheit (source: Copernicus Climate Change Service). Scientists have run out of polite, normal-sounding words to describe what they are seeing.
“The massive, massive records” set over the past year are beyond what scientists would expect to see even considering climate change,” said Climatologist and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt.
North Atlantic Current. Image courtesy of Amdros.3
It’s true that this year compared to a year ago, the planet is under the influence of an El Nino event that began in July 2023, different than the La Nina climate pattern that tends to lower temperatures. But adding “the El” on top of the temperature elevation is beginning to freak out the normally careful scientists.  There are a couple other factors, that have turned the waters around states like Florida into a tepid bathtub.
The northern hemisphere is heading into the hot summer months after the southern hemisphere just had its hottest winter on record. Climate experts warn that the punishing temperatures test the limits of human physiology. But they are warning of something just as concerning: other major environmental dangers.
The rising ocean temperatures could turn off the North Atlantic Current, the massive conveyor belt that moves warm water north and cold water south across the Atlantic Ocean extending the Gulf Stream northeastward. It is connected to the global Meridional current that regulates the entire globe. It’s sometimes called the North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement. That current is so big, and so powerful that it is the size of 8,000 Mississippi Rivers. This current redistributes heat globally. It determines weather from the equator to Europe, from crop production in Africa, to sea level rise on the East Coast. And yes since it pulls heat out of the Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico, it can impact the climate here in the Rocky Mountains too.  If that current stops, our entire climate, not just seasonal weather will change.
As reported by NPR, a new study by Nature.com “finds the collapse of the current, which is known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or AMOC, could happen far sooner than scientists have previously thought, possibly within a few decades, as a result of human-caused global warming.”
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Publisher/Managing EditorWith criss-crossing careers in global marketing and advertising, product management, and journalism, Wondra has found leading business entities from Western Union North America Money Transfer to the Arrow Electronics Global Marketing team to be fertile strategic ground before returning to her journalistic roots; first launching theCorridor.biz for the Villager Media Group, before launching Ark Valley Voice. As the winner of several Colorado Press Association Awards and Publisher/Managing Editor, she leads an enthusiastic team of journalists who believe strongly that “Truth should have a voice.”
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Earth is experiencing stronger hurricanes, monster wildfires, crippling heat and massive downpours. As humans heat the planet by burning fossil fuels, a new report says no part of the United States is immune.”The devastating toll of climate change is an existential threat to all of us. It is…
Many people do not make the connection between climate change and spirituality.
For Indigenous people, the impacts are deeply felt. The impact depends, of course, on where someone’s people are from. Yet, regardless of geographic differences, climate impacts on land and water threaten our ability to keep our ceremonies going.
Unlike many religious structures, our ceremony connections are tied to place. We depend on access to plants, animals and water from the places we hold our ceremonies. Climate change has made this necessary access challenging.
To help illustrate these impacts, I will give an example from one of the ceremonies in which I participate. Thank you to readers for understanding that I will not be describing the details of this ceremony or the location, out of privacy and respect.
This ceremony depends on several different parts connected to place. One is access to certain food and plants from the area where it is held. However, due to droughts, some of these plants are declining.
We do not overharvest our medicine plants so they are not depleted out of existence. The lack of water is making it harder and harder to have necessary plants as part of our ceremony. There is no alternative. If the plants are gone, that part of our ceremony is also gone.
Additionally, the presence of fire is a vital part of this ceremony. It burns for several days. However, due to the rise of extreme summer fires, drought and drier conditions, we have faced permit restrictions on fire.
In recent years, we have even had our ceremony prohibited due to fire threat. It took a great deal of advocacy from some in the community to gain approval for our permit. The only reason it was approved was because of the advocacy and an intense fire safety plan now in place. Otherwise, we would not have been able to have the ceremony at all.
These may seem like minor inconveniences to some, or something that needs to be adapted to. Yet, for Indigenous people, we cannot just move our ceremonies that follow the cycles of nature and depend on specific pieces.
The removal of ceremonies from place reflects the removal of Indigenous people from our lands.
Just as our people have continued, we need our ceremonies to continue as well. To keep our ways going, we need to work with each other to help find ways to address climate change together. Our entire belief systems depend on it.
Luhui Whitebear
Luhui Whitebear is an enrolled member of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, mother and assistant professor at Oregon State University. She also volunteers as part of the Corvallis School Board, is an MMIW advocate and, in her free time, enjoys hiking with her children.
The weekly “Interfaith Voices” column includes a regular rotation of writers representing the broad spectrum of spiritual voices throughout the mid-valley. The column is coordinated by the Reverend Barbara Nixon, who can be emailed at revbabs2000@gmail.com.

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News from the Columbia Climate School
EICES Guest Blogger
By Andrew Mambo and Dana Kochnower
As New Yorkers with small apartments, we all know how hard it is to store unwanted stuff; we also know that recycling is better than throwing it away.  After taking  CERC’s Introduction to Environmental Policy course, we became aware of the New York State Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which prohibits consumers from disposing covered electronic equipment in landfills beginning January 2015.   We visited the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s new permanent e-waste warehouse located in Gowanus, Brooklyn.  The warehouse is open five-days-a-week for people to bring cell phones, printers, computers, televisions and a variety of other electronics that should not wind up in landfills.

Learn more about the LESEC’s e-waste warehouse.
Learn more about the NYS Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act.
Andrew Mambo and Dana Kochnower are enrolled in the certificate program at the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.
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Recent record-breaking heat waves have affected communities across the world. The Extreme Heat Workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners to advance the state of knowledge, identify community needs, and develop a framework for evaluating risks with a focus on climate justice. Register by June 15

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This is a great thing you are doing. I live in a very large college town. We really need something like this. What kind of costs do you run into when running something like that?
We should never throw away cell phones. They are very toxic and people do it all the time.
Hi,
E-waste has gradually climbed to the the top of the priority list for the waste management think-tanks around the world. With our affinity to the gadgets increasing by the day, the volume of electronic waste occupying our offices and residence have also been spiraling.
Countries like China, India and Brazil which are emerging as the new economic blocks have virtually sidelined the menace of e-waste – barring a few recycling agencies involved. We need a global e-waste management standards to be integrated into the manufacturing-to-disposal cycle.
A recent snapshot of the Indian e-waste nightmare can be seen here:
http://www.greenarth.com/blog/e-waste-stashing-the-right-way
Vineet
Grid No. 91
It is great idea to run E-cycle point (or a few) in every aglomeration, but it would also be beneficial to run some in the rural areas where the people might find it difficult to deliver some e-waste to the next big city. I’m actually thinking about something mobile (a van or so) to come and go every few weeks.
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Who Wants to Have Children in a Warming World?  WIRED
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BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (WDTV) – Three educators have been recognized as West Virginia Environmental Teachers of the Year, including one from North Central West Virginia.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has recognized Tracy Arnold of Leading Creek Elementary in Lewis County.
Arnold and two other teachers are being honored for going above and beyond in promoting environmental awareness in their classrooms, schools and communities.
Arnold, who teaches fifth grade, works with her students on an annual stream study of Leading Creek. She also organizes litter cleanups on the creek and initiated a World Water Day celebration at her school.
Each winning teacher will receive a $500 personal award and a $1,000 check to promote science, technology, engineering and math education at their schools.
Cindy Booth, of Kermit PK-8 in Mingo County, and Melody Hubbard, of Clay County High School, are the other two winners.
“These amazing teachers are playing a pivotal role in helping our students understand the importance of environmental stewardship. Because of their efforts, our schools are producing young citizens equipped with the knowledge to make the right decisions about our environment – decisions that benefit not only their communities but all of West Virginia,” said Annette Hoskins, director of the WVDEP’s Youth Environmental Program and the coordinator for the agency’s Teacher of the Year awards.
Copyright 2024 WDTV. All rights reserved.

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Behind the scenes, industrial artificial intelligence is transforming the efficiency and performance of companies. But the bigger picture is the implication for global sustainability

29 May 2024

Swedish water supplier VA SYD used industrial AI techniques to reduce water leakage rates from 10 per cent to less than 8 per cent
Kentaroo Tryman
We’ve never had such powerful tools to solve the challenges we face in sustainability,” says James Cole, Chief Innovation Officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), in the UK. “Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems have the potential to help us understand the world in all its complexity to optimise industrial processes for holistic business, social and environmental outcomes.”
The arrival of AI across the industrial sector has been heralded as the next great industrial revolution. But unlike past revolutions, which typically accelerated the consumption of resources, AI offers the opportunity to slash waste while boosting efficiency to levels only previously dreamed of. Within this context, global technology company, Siemens, is working to strengthen the emerging link between AI-optimised industry and environmental stewardship as society pushes towards net-zero carbon emissions.
At heart, AI is software that performs tasks traditionally requiring human intellect, such as understanding text, identifying complex patterns, modelling processes, and making predictions. But in an industrial context, AI systems must be engineered for reliability and security. That allows them to be built into the industrial backbone of economies, optimising and improving processes in everything from healthcare and mobility to power generation and infrastructure.
Take water management. One way to improve water sustainability is to lose less of it through leaks. Yet ageing pipes and ground movements make leaks inevitable. “About 30 per cent of the drinking water the world produces is wasted – a shockingly high figure,” says Adam Cartwright, Siemens’ Industry Strategy Director for Software in Water and Waste Water. “Every time you avoid losses, you’re not only saving money but better managing precious water resources.”
VA SYD is one of Sweden’s largest water companies supplying drinking water to over half a million customers. Previously, it was losing 10 per cent of its water but had no means of detecting small leaks.
By training an AI model on historical data from VA SYD’s water network, the Siemens Leak Finder application learned to identify and locate leaks, even small ones losing just 0.25 litres per second. That allowed VA SYD to reduce leaks to a world-leading level of less than 8 per cent.
Meanwhile, Siemens is working with Yorkshire Water and the University of Sheffield, using AI to protect the environment at the other end of the water cycle. In combined sewage systems, stormwater runoff and household sewage together flow to water treatment plants. And in times of intense rainfall, combined sewer outlets are designed to release excess water and sewage into rivers to prevent flooding in public areas. One challenge is that blockages in pipes can lead to unnecessary releases, but these obstructions are hard to detect (see diagram).
To address this, Siemens developed a blockage-predicting AI trained on data from thousands of sensors on Yorkshire Water’s sewer outlets, in combination with rainfall data. It learned what a properly functioning sewage network looks like under different weather conditions. When its monitoring system detects flows in the network behaving unexpectedly, it simulates potential blockages in different locations to work out where a real blockage may be developing.
The predictor finds 90 per cent of potential issues; three times more effective than traditional, statistical approaches. And it provides as much as two weeks’ warning of impending blockages, while halving the previous rate of false alarms.
Looking ahead, Cartwright considers the potential for AI and digital technologies to reduce carbon and environmental impact by more carefully managing water and energy use. “Pumping water accounts for 2-3 per cent of a country’s power use,” he says. By ensuring that this pumping is done when energy is at its cheapest and greenest, industrial AI can reduce costs for water and increase resilience for both sectors.
AI is already helping manage the environmental impact of another key part of modern society’s infrastructure: data centres. Their energy usage is significant, much of it used to keep their thousands of servers cool.

How water works
But consider Greenergy Data Centers’ facility in Estonia. Already powered solely by renewable energy, the company further reduced its environmental footprint and energy costs using AI.
Servers produce heat depending on their workload but this can change more quickly than conventional cooling systems can react to. To combat this, Siemens developed AI-supported software that uses real-time temperature and airflow data collected by sensors all over the data centre, in addition to information on server workload. The system can then anticipate cooling needs to maintain optimal temperatures throughout the facility.
“When we first launched the system, it improved our efficiency by approximately 30 per cent at the push of a button,” says Kert Evert, Chief Development Officer of Greenergy Data Centers.
It’s an example of AI being part of the solution to one of its own challenges, given concerns over the amount of energy AI requires. Here Pina Schlombs, Sustainability Lead, Siemens Digital Industries Software, notes the outlook of AI computing efficiency is improving drastically.
Consider also an AI model in the industrial space that accelerates product design for optimal environmental lifetime impact or increases resource and energy efficiency, she says. “With a holistic perspective, we can gauge whether the sustainability benefits of AI outweigh the resources to train and run it.”
To realise AI’s benefits within any industry, continues Cartwright, the first step is making full use of existing infrastructure, data and sensor networks. If additional hardware is required, it should be easily linked to existing hardware and asset-management software through secure, standard protocols. “This interoperability is key to supporting the diverse, evolving needs of industrial applications,” says Cartwright. Organisations can then benefit from the convergence of AI with other technologies; its ability to help master complex problems at speed and scale.
CISL’s accelerator programmes reflect this potential, having supported over 350 startups in the past three years, including those showing the power of AI to solve complex challenges. Monumo, for example, is revolutionising electric motor design, enabling more design simulations to be run than conventional approaches – finding faster answers to energy efficient vehicle design.
All this makes AI an ally in humanity’s effort to achieve a smarter, environmentally friendly future. Cole agrees. “AI has the potential to help us make better decisions through greater understanding. This facilitates better collaboration across industries, to foster alignment on how we realise a sustainable tomorrow.”
Hear more from Pina Schlombs in our in-depth podcast interview available to listen now.
Further reading from Siemens here.
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In this era of digital transformation, we have witnessed extraordinary advances that have redefined the way we interact, work and live.
Reduced paper consumption and greater energy efficiency are just some of the benefits that digitization has brought about. However, there is also a significant and often overlooked environmental impact: the carbon footprint of our online activity.
One of the most worrying aspects is the increasing energy consumption associated with data storage. Server centers, which are the backbone of the digital infrastructure, consume huge amounts of energy.
To put it in perspective, these centers are estimated to use approximately 1% of the world’s energy, according to IT and technology firm DataSpan. This percentage tends to increase over time, as the use of these services increases.
As a result, online content and advertising provider TechTarget reports that data centers and data transmission networks are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to rising global temperatures and climate change.
This huge and growing — as well as little-known — level of consumption has a direct impact on CO2 emissions and, ultimately, on climate change.
The paradox is that while the digital transformation has led to a notable reduction in the use of paper and other forms of physical consumption, the increase in the production, use and transfer of data has generated an equally significant, if not greater, environmental impact.
Society is increasingly aware of the pollution generated by various industries and transportation, but the digital carbon footprint remains an underappreciated concept in the environmental sustainability conversation.
Data storage not only carries a high energy cost but is itself vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Extreme weather events, such as record heat waves, can severely affect the operability of data centers.
One example occurred in late July 2022 in the United Kingdom, when high temperatures caused cooling systems to fail at Google Cloud and Oracle data centers in London.
These incidents not only disrupted digital services, but also revealed the vulnerability of digital infrastructure to increasing extreme weather events.
In short, while digital transformation has brought significant benefits in terms of efficiency and accessibility, it has also exacerbated environmental challenges.
It is crucial that society recognizes and addresses the hidden environmental impact of our digital carbon footprint, through the implementation of more efficient data management practices and investment in renewable energy to power digital infrastructure.
Here are some recommended actions to take:
Reduce the size of the documents sent by email to reduce the weight of the message.
Cancel unread subscriptions – it saves the emissions from producing and distributing that content.
Concrete measures, such as those proposed, are needed to mitigate this impact as soon as possible and build a truly sustainable digital future.
Carlos Roa is senior press and PR director for VoLo Foundation. This opinion piece was distributed by The Invading Sea website (www.theinvadingsea.com), which posts news and commentary on climate change and other environmental issues affecting Florida.
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