In the first episode of this series, our host Katie Pritchard, is joined by Hetty Garnier, a fellow sustainability expert here at Moorhouse, who has worked across the implementation of electric vehicle charging networks and a global manufacturing company. During this episode, prepare to delve into the world of AI, how companies should be responsibly using the technology and the potential risk the tool presents to the environment.

So, what really is AI and how do we use it in our daily lives? What are some of the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for the environment? Click the button to learn more about this increasingly hot topic.

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Welcome to MoorBytes, a short -form podcast brought to you by Moorhouse. In each episode, we'll be discussing trends and insights we really care about and breaking these down into digestible chunks.

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In this first series, we'll be taking a deep dive into the often complex but always fascinating relationship between digital and sustainability. Welcome to our very first episode of MooreBytes, AI and our Planet, enabling sustainable outcomes through digital technology.

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To help explore this topic further, we'll be joined by Hetty, who is a core part of our Moorhouse sustainability team. In her past five years here, she's worked on a number of different sustainability projects, ranging from an international airport to an EV charging network.

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Today, she's going to help us delve into the potential for AI to enable positive impacts of sustainability and provide some examples of how organisations are already doing this, but also raise concerns about the responsible use of AI and the potential for damage to the environment. Welcome Hetty.

01:29

Hi Katie, thanks for having me. So when we're talking about AI, artificial intelligence, we are talking about technology that mimics human problem solving ability. Yeah, so AI is a technology which involves the development of algorithms which are modelled on decision making processes.

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And these are capable of learning from a data set to make accurate classifications and predictions and complete tasks faster and more efficiently than humans. Most people use AI daily but might not really realise, for example, using your Alexa or unlocking your phone with facial recognition.

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And there are a whole load of applications for AI which are growing all the time, which is why it's a topic getting so much attention at the moment. So actually people will be interacting with AI all the time for their personal use, but may not think about how it can be used to enable sustainable outcomes in their business.

02:22

So with that in mind, can you give us an overview of some of the opportunities that AI brings and perhaps a brief summary of the challenges that we should be aware of too? Yeah, so we're just focusing on the environmental side of ESG for this episode.

02:36

So opportunities here might include environmental monitoring and reporting, supply chain tracking, renewable energy integration and optimisation of processes to reduce emissions. However, with these opportunities come some challenges for the environment related to energy, water and waste.

02:52

So thinking about the opportunities in a bit more detail first. Could you give us a few examples of where organisations are leveraging the applications of AI to enable positive outcomes for sustainability?

03:06

Sure, there are a couple of great examples I wanted to mention today which show a range of use cases for AI in sustainability. First up is Aldi, one of the UK's biggest supermarkets. They're using AI to track the recycling of flexible plastics which they collect from customers in stores, a real reputational issue for retailers at the moment.

03:25

Yeah, sure. And the AI tool they're using helps them to track the full recycling journey, how much plastic is collected, what type, how it's sorted and how much is eventually turned into new products.

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This means that Aldi can certify their plastics recycling and create more trust with consumers to recycle more. Interesting. Second is an example from Google who's launching an AI -enabled satellite to track global methane emissions and leaks.

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And methane is a significant polluter as a greenhouse gas, right? Yeah, it's actually 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And a big proportion of this comes from the fossil fuel industry. And Google's AI -enabled solution will hopefully make it easier to monitor leaks and also empower energy companies to develop targeted emissions reduction strategies and hold them accountable to proactively address leaks.

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The third and last example relates to ESG reporting which isn't necessarily the most exciting topic but anyone working in sustainability will be aware of the huge breadth of reporting which is now required of business.

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We're now seeing a load of AI tools pop up which help businesses to navigate this. And one example comes from a sustainability manager at Shell who's built his own AI chatbot which is trained on the EU's corporate sustainability reporting directive, otherwise known as CSRD, which alone has over a thousand data points.

04:47

That's actually really interesting thinking about how an individual can harness their own knowledge of AI for good like at Shell that you just mentioned. I'm sure there are loads of other use cases for AI in ESG reporting and also sustainability more broadly, but in the interest of time, can we think a little bit more about the positives that you mentioned and what lessons can we take from these examples to understand how we can use AI across businesses for sustainability?

05:16

I think the key point is to understand how AI can be used to enhance your existing sustainability strategy and goals. So maybe think about your own sustainability priorities and consider where an AI tool could help you to optimize the process, to monitor data and target emission savings or even just to understand a complex new topic.

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Be proactive and investigate where these tools might exist already. But of course, make sure you work with your internal IT and compliance teams to make sure you go about implementing AI in a responsible way.

05:46

Yeah, of course. We've covered a range of ways AI can be used to enable sustainable outcomes. And there are clearly a lot more use cases out there which we haven't touched on but hopefully what we've discussed gives a great flavour of what's happening across industry today.

06:03

It does give a very optimistic impression of the potential for AI and sustainability. However, you did mention there were also some challenges for the environment. Can you explain a little bit more about what these are?

06:14

Yeah, we do have to consider the other side of the argument and highlight that AI systems do also have the potential for negative environmental impact due to the amount of resources that they take to run.

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First, energy usage. Significant energy consumption is needed to power AI systems which comes with associated carbon emissions. Second, water consumption due to the need to cool servers. This is particularly problematic in water stress areas.

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This can lead to further depletion of rare earth elements which can have a human rights impact too and risk pollution from hazardous materials. So, thinking about those three areas, how can businesses actually avoid these environmental negative impacts?

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All organisations need to take a responsible approach to the use of AI to ensure this is done as efficiently as possible. Without making AI less resource intensive, we might find that the negative impacts begin to outweigh the potential for positive outcomes which we highlighted earlier.

07:29

Yeah. Thanks, Hetty. Really interesting, especially the note of caution around the responsible use of AI to avoid unintended environmental consequences. That almost brings us to the end of the episode.

07:42

So, with that in mind, could you just give us a quick summary of your key takeaways on the topic? Sure. I think it's a really exciting topic for sustainability and I hope the examples we mentioned today are just the start of a wave.

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of new initiatives which will help accelerate sustainable outcomes from the world. Inherently because AI can complete tasks faster and more efficiently than humans, there's a huge potential for accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy.

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But we do need to be aware of the environmental risks which AI systems can create. And to avoid this, organisations need to be proactive in ensuring they use AI in a responsible way. Thank you so much that Hetty for that overview of how AI is impacting sustainability.

08:22

Thanks for having me, Katie. In this episode, we've touched on how AI can be incredibly beneficial to accelerate your sustainability goals. But also recognising that there is a negative side effect that must not go undetected.

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We can learn so much from what others are already doing, from Aldi to Shell. and it's not just industry driving this forward. Government funding is pushing sustainable AI advancement too. Hopefully this has provided some food for thought on integrating technology into your sustainability strategy, utilising the latest AI developments for your own benefit.

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And that's a wrap for this episode. Thank you so much to Hetty for joining and thank you all for listening. Hopefully see you next time.