Electricity + Control July 2018

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

How artificial intelligence will revolutionise the energy industry

Franklin Wolfe, Harvard University

Earlier this year, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men on Earth, wrote an essay online at ‘The blog of Bill Gates,’ to college students graduating world- wide in 2017.

Take Note!

The energy grid comprises A vast network of power plants. 1

Transmission lines. Distribution centres.

2 3

H e stated, “If I were starting out today… I would consider three fields. One is artificial intelligence (AI). We have only begun to tap into all the ways it will make people’s lives more productive and creative. The second is energy, be- causemaking it clean, affordable, and reliable will be essential for fighting poverty and climate change.” The third field he mentioned was biosciences. What is inspiring for individuals who are dedi- cated to improving living conditions today and for future generations to come is that AI and energy are not mutually exclusive career paths. In fact, they are becoming increasingly interconnected as computing power, data collection, and storage ca- pabilities scale exponentially on an annual basis. According to DanWalker, who leads the emerging technology team in British Petroleum’s (BP) Tech- nology Group, “AI is enabling the fourth industrial revolution, and it has the potential to help deliver the next level of performance.”

Why does the energy grid need to be modernised? In 1882, Thomas Edison opened America’s first power plant at Pearl Street Station in lower Manhat- tan to deliver power to 59 customers. The custom- er base has since swelled to hundreds of millions of users, but the overall structure has yet to receive a modern overhaul. It consists of a vast network of power plants, transmission lines, and distribution centres (comprising roughly 5 800 power plants and over 2.7 million miles of power lines). High costs for infrastructure and distribution lines, as well as stringent governmental regula- tions, naturally create opportunities for monopo- lies to develop in the market. As a result, three separate U.S. grids produce and transmit power under the mandate to provide low-cost, reliable energy as a public good. In the U.S., the average age of power plants is over 30 years and of power transformers is over 40

Although AI is in the early stages of implementation, it is poised to revolu- tionise the way we produce, transmit, and consume energy. At the same time, AI is also limiting the industry’s environmental impact at a time when demand is steadily growing, our ener- gy production portfolio is diversifying, and we are witnessing the ramifica- tions of fossil fuel consumption on biodiversity, air quality, and quality of life.

Renewables Consumption Geothermal Hydropower

10

Liquid Biofuels Others biomass Solar Wind power Wood Biomass

9

2,787

8

2,321

7

2,562

3,103

1,295

6

1,221

2,669

0,777 0,527

1,097

5

2,446

0,426 0,518

1,150

0,496

4

0,902 0,452 0,721

0,462

Quadrillion Btu

0,549 0,413 0,341

2,298

1,600

3

1,776

1,167

2

2,170

2,089

2,071

2,010

1

1,957

1,931

0

2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

Figure 1: This figure demonstrates the rising trend of U.S. renewable energy supply over the past decade.

16 Electricity + Control

JULY 2018