AI for Decarbonisation Ecosystem
This report (2023) provides insights into, and an overview of, the AI for decarbonisation R&D and innovation landscape in the UK. It captures key use cases, organisations, projects and trends to inform government and policymakers, academia, industry and investors.
It sets the foundations for further work in this burgeoning area; identifying critical gaps and market opportunities that will be the basis for the remainder of the ADViCE project, providing a set of recommendations for future activity and looking at future avenues for further investment and growth.
Authors: Vicki Williams, Rachel Hugonin and Sugar Day - Digital Catapult
Chapter Breakdown
Executive summary + Introduction Chapter 1: Technology Innovation and Climate Ambitions: UK & Global Policy Landscape Chapter 2: AI & Decarbonisation Innovation Chapter 3: AI for Decarbonisation Adoption Chapter 4: Ecosystem Analysis Conclusion: Interventions & Recommendations
Top Level findings
- There are currently around 330 + companies developing sustainability-aligned’ AI solutions for the agriculture, built environment, energy and manufacturing sectors
- Across these sectors, 77% of AI innovators are based in London and the South East
- Data analytics and insights platforms are currently the most developed, and seemingly most in-demand AI solutions
- While the UK and global AI markets are growing, further opportunities for AI innovators directed at decarbonisation and sustainability need to be enabled. These should aim to boost the diversification of tools being developed, respond to industry demand, and increase adoption rates – as well as providing further encouragement for AI for decarbonisation innovation in the UK.
- AI has been proven to improve the sustainability efforts of the sectors in scope. More can be done to forge newfound collaboration with leading AI innovators, and to update legacy systems and business models to improve growth and agility for adopters and innovators alike.
Recommendations summary
- Cross-sector collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Provide further investment opportunities to develop scalable solutions through collaborations between promising AI startups and SMEs, academics, and large industry partners.
- Focus on decarbonisation impact
- Ensure AI funding in these sectors targets applications that will directly drive decarbonisation, not just efficiency and cost reduction.
- Responsible adoption and building trust
- De-risk, encourage and drive greater collaboration between AI for decarbonisation initiatives with responsible and open AI activities both in the UK and globally. This should include funding for ADViCE to work with organisations such as Responsible AI UK to provide toolkits for SMEs and roadmaps for the sectors in scope to consider the responsible adoption of AI technologies in their application for decarbonisation.
- Enabling corporate agility and skills pipelines across the UK
- Develop a skills pipeline and support business preparation for cross-sector AI innovation for net zero and decarbonisation.
- Enable place-based opportunities
- Cross-technology decarbonisation exploration
- In the context of the UK’s cyber-physical infrastructure vision, further investment from the UK Government and industry in cross-technology adoption and use case exploration for decarbonisation.