The Bezos Earth Fund is looking into innovative ways to use contemporary AI to increase the impact of efforts to protect the environment and the climate.

The Bezos Earth Fund is funding a $100 million global programme called the AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge. The first round of awards will embrace innovative unconventional solutions for the environment and climate, with an emphasis on sustainable proteins, power grid optimisation, and biodiversity conservation.

Focus Areas

Sustainable proteins

Sustainable proteins are improving their ability to mimic the complexity of animal-sourced meat. AI-based approaches can enhance the quality and cost of sustainable proteins by assisting in end-product formulation. AI can help scientists quickly identify and adjust formulations, reducing the need for manual labor. For example, scientists have used AI to find an isolated protein in mung beans with similar properties to scrambled eggs.

AI can be used in protein engineering, strain/cell line development, feedstock optimization, and process development to create sustainable proteins. Proteins, composed of amino acid chains, can be designed using genetic sequences to optimize properties. AI can also help in understanding which modifications to organisms would enhance growth efficiency or bias towards desirable traits. For fermentation and cultivated meat, AI can help optimize feedstocks and culture media formulations, reducing costs. Digital twin technologies can also facilitate rapid process development improvements using manufacturing simulations and biosensors.

AI is a potential solution to global electricity grid challenges, enhancing grid resilience and accelerating the clean energy transition. By optimizing operations, predicting disruptions, and integrating variable renewable energy, AI can save $300 billion in efficiency gains within a decade. Advancements in AI technologies, such as predictive modeling and intelligent automation, can optimize transmission siting, power flow, renewable energy forecasting, and coordinate distributed energy resources. This can lead to a more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective grid that integrates renewable energy sources, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

AI can improve energy management by enabling intelligent demand response, improving renewable energy forecasting, and coordinating distributed energy resources. It can also enhance grid resilience by predicting outages, automating fault detection, and prioritizing underserved communities. AI can also help ensure reliable, affordable, and clean electricity access for all, especially in the face of climate change disruptions. This ensures equitable distribution of benefits and prevents a left-off transition to a clean energy future.

AI applications are crucial in biodiversity conservation, providing tools and technologies for monitoring, analyzing, protecting, and restoring diverse ecosystems. Machine learning algorithms can process vast datasets, identify patterns, and predict changes in biodiversity, supporting conservation efforts. This aids researchers in monitoring species populations, tracking migration patterns, and assessing ecosystem health. AI can also help identify high conservation priority areas, inform wildlife corridor design, and manage invasive species. It can also be used on domesticated species, such as cattle, by leveraging computer vision and facial recognition platforms. AI can also be used for endangered species monitoring, discovering hidden biodiversity, and developing predictive models that analyze eDNA data alongside environmental variables.

Bioacoustics tools use AI algorithms to analyze soundscapes, providing insights into natural environment health and dynamics. This aids conservation and rewilding efforts by understanding population numbers, habitats, and human interactions. AI-driven acoustic monitoring systems monitor biodiversity, assess population dynamics, and detect ecosystem changes. AI can also create responsive soundscapes to attract and support species, enhancing nature protection. Wildcard solutions for climate change mitigation and nature protection are encouraged.

Don't miss out on the application deadline which is 30-Jul-24.