Carlos Pignataro

A new piece written with Christine McDaniel discussing three real world applications of AI that could help increase energy abundance while hastening necessary decarbonization. We need energy, we need lower carbon, these tools can help. https://lnkd.in/e_MTPuk5

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Check out NOAA Research's work on next generation wildfire detection and warning tools. Improved climate science, forecasting, and modeling capabilities boost climate resilience. In 2018, Federal Budget IQ identified climate resilience as an emerging, bipartisan 10-year multi-billion-dollar federal policy and funding priority. We've seen that and more with billions in investments in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and annual appropriations. Chauncey Goss Maureen Holohan Becky Leggieri Cameron Leuthy Charles Kieffer Austin Smythe #climateresilience #climatescience #federalbudget #apppropriations #publicsectorforecast https://lnkd.in/gicJ7Yds

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ESG Impact Zone newsletter -- If you are not yet a subscriber to this "tip-sheet" newsletter, and the human-centered #digitaltransformation and #Industry5dot0 economy is important to you, the please sign up. https://lnkd.in/gnH4vcMR

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Ambitious #climate goals are bringing #cities and counties face-to-face with a serious reality: the need for carbon dioxide removal in addition to #decarbonization. As some local governments start to look at carbon removal strategies, experts say the public sector entering the ring could help bring down the cost for everyone. My story for Smart Cities Dive:

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Climate Resilience: Protecting Critical Infrastructure In 2023, the U.S. faced 23 climate disasters, each costing over $1 billion. Power grids failed, roads flooded, and water systems broke down. These infrastructures weren’t built for today’s climate risks, but technology offers hope. AI, IoT, and predictive tools can help us prepare, prevent damage, and build resilience for what’s coming. 1. Investment: The World Economic Forum estimates $94 trillion is needed by 2040 to meet global infrastructure demands and address climate challenges. Delaying only increases future costs. Investing now ensures long-term resilience and savings. 2. Data-Driven Policy: Governments must back AI, IoT, and smart grids with policies that incentivize private investment and accelerate infrastructure upgrades. Without policy support, these technologies won’t reach their potential. 3. AI and Predictive Analytics: AI can predict where disasters will strike by analyzing weather patterns, infrastructure data, and past failures. McKinsey’s 2023 report found that predictive analytics cut infrastructure failures by 40%, preventing issues before they happen. 4. Smart Grids: In 2021, Texas’s power grid failed during a cold snap, leaving millions without electricity. Smart grids, using AI and IoT, balance energy loads and reroute power, keeping systems operational in emergencies. They also support renewable energy integration. 5. Secure IoT sensors provide real-time data on critical systems, detecting stress and damage early. In California, utilities used sensors during wildfires to monitor equipment and shut off power in high-risk areas, preventing greater disasters. 6. Real-World Examples: • NYC: After Hurricane Sandy, AI predicts storm surges, and IoT sensors monitor water levels, protecting the city from future flooding. • California: AI predicts wildfires, and smart grids cut power in high-risk areas, reducing wildfire damage. • The Netherlands: IoT and AI manage flood risks by adjusting defenses based on real-time water levels. 7. The Cost of Waiting: In 2022, climate disasters caused $250 billion in global damages. AI, IoT, and predictive tools can cut repair costs by 35%. Delaying action leads to even greater losses. The Big Question: Will we invest now in the technology, workforce, and policies that protect our critical systems, or wait until they fail under growing climate and aging pressures? Conclusion: AI, IoT, and smart grids aren’t future solutions — they’re tools we need today. But it takes investment and informed policies to implement them effectively. The longer we wait, the higher the costs. The time to act is now. I’m working on projects that use AI, IoT, smart grids, and security to strengthen infrastructure. If you’re interested in collaborating, let’s connect. #AI #ASME #ClimateChange #Collaboration #DataDrivenPolicy #IEEE #Infrastructure #Investment #IoT #Resilience #SmartGrids #Sustainability #Technology #UrbanPlanning

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 "Climate change" is likely to become taboo under the second Trump administration. However, climate-related disasters will not go away just because the federal government backs off. There is, and will continue to be, a need for policies, finance, and innovation to address climate impacts to communities and businesses, and to adapt to higher temperatures and more frequent weather extremes. How will climate adaptation and resilience evolve under the new administration? How could state and local governments step up to better climate-proof their constituents? And how might private investors and startups dedicated to adaptation and resilience adjust their strategies in a transformed policy space? Our panel of experts will address all these questions and more at this exclusive "salon-style" event in NYC on December 4. If you're in town, swing round and join in the conversation. Spaces are strictly limited, so book your tickets today 👇 https://lu.ma/u0s85i8f 📣 Speakers Sharai Lewis-Gruss, Co-owner and Principal, Two Degrees Adapt Jeff Schlegelmilch, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Earth Institute, Columbia University Daniel Murphy Risk & Resilience Specialist, World Economic Forum Stacy A. Swann Swann, Resilient Earth Capital #climaterisk #adaptation #resilience #climatechange

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Will surging power demand due to growth in AI data centers trash US climate goals? My Financial Times colleagues Amanda Chu and Aime Williams pick through the data and talk to industry leaders during climate week in New York to find out. Power-hungry artificial intelligence is consuming increasingly vast amounts of energy from the creaking US grid and threatening national efforts to tackle climate change, according to the latest expert forecasts. Unprecedented energy demand, fuelled in part by expanding data centres for AI, combined with the slower-than-expected pace of renewable development and longer operating timelines for polluting coal plants, have prompted analysts to recast their models for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The theme dominated discussions at Climate Week, where technology companies were more in focus than the fossil fuel companies behind pollution historically. The latest report from BloombergNEF this week warned of the slower US progress on decarbonisation, predicting emissions would be reduced by as little as 34 per cent by 2030 from their 2005 levels. The latest assessment puts the US trajectory even further from its national target to cut its emissions by 50-52 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, under its pledge to the Paris Agreement. #climateweek

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Having worked in and around the United Nations for nearly two decades, I know first-hand that Member States, whether they admit it readily or not, need the private sector to provide the science, data and best practices that they don't often have themselves. This work to develop a globally binding treaty on plastics pollution is important to the health of people and planet. But we need to get it right. Solving one problem while creating other problems is not a sustainable solution. I am here in Ottawa this week to do my part to advance the negotiations and to help develop a mechanism that is meaningful, impactful, implementable and helps us deliver the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. #PlasticsTreaty #INC4 #SDGs

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U.S. climate efforts are paying off, but we are not yet on track to hit midcentury emission reduction targets. The NCA5 is helping city planners strategize new methods to map around (as yet) unforeseen climate obstacles. https://ow.ly/rv3E30sBGYX

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The Climate Crisis and Industrialization are opposite sides of the same coin. Climate risk is financial risk. Climate risk is industrial supply chain risk. Industrial supply chain risk is financial risk. Therefore, we are in the early-stages of the largest sector-driven investment opportunity of our lifetime - the technology-driven refashioning of industrial supply chains to mitigate the climate crisis. Join us at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChainTech #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital

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🌟 CECAN Centre for Evaluating Complexity Across the Nexus Fellow Joanna Boehnert has created an engaging poster for her project, “The Visual Representation of Complexity.” 🎉 It defines key complexity concepts, featuring examples and a clear diagram to visualize these ideas. 🌐✨ Sustainability practitioners rely on visuals to capture relationships in complex adaptive systems. These images enhance communication, collaboration, learning, and evaluation, fostering a shared understanding of systemic processes. 🌱🔍 #Complexity #Sustainability #VisualCommunication https://lnkd.in/gWE4G7y2

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Calling climate tech innovators with high impact projects: fund your business concept with government resources 💰 The ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit highlights how U.S. government investments support energy innovation and sustainability. ⚠️ The summit showcased projects funded by ARPA-E, which focuses on high-risk, high-potential technologies that are often too risky for private investors. 🏢 Government resources available for startups are categorized into seed, scale, and deploy: 🌱 Seed programs like ARPA-E, DOE’s SBIR/STTR, and FESI provide early-stage funding and support. The Department of Defense also offers funding for near-commercialization projects. 📈 Scale initiatives such as ARPA-E’s SCALEUP, DOE’s OCED, and EERE provide substantial funding for scaling up technologies, including building factories and developing supply chains. 🚀 Deploy: agencies like DOE’s LPO and OTT, and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund focus on commercializing technologies ready for deployment, offering loans, grants and tax breaks. ⚡️ The DOE offers comprehensive support, especially at the early and late stages of development, but startups in the intermediate phase may face funding challenges. Focus on available “scale” resources and state-level investments to bridge this gap.

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✅ This recent WSJ article (may be behind a paywall) provides a basic overview of some of the Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies that have been identified by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). ✅ These technologies have their own pros and cons and are in varying stages of development. ✅ In addition to emissions reduction, carbon removal is essential to achieve net-zero goals. The latter requires large scale implementation of a combination of the carbon removal technologies mentioned in the article. #CDR #CarbonRemoval #DAC #ERW #biochar #EmissionsReduction #NetZero

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Tony Hughes, Ph.D. has a knack for translating climate risk research papers into stories that make sense -- and that shine a light on some of the overlooked aspects of the climate risk management debate. Here, he unpacks a recent paper from Bressan et al (https://lnkd.in/evpemgqy) which shows that investor losses from climate physical risks may be underestimated by up to 70%. Tony puts us in the shoes of a CEO overseeing a series of climate-vulnerable factories in Mexico, and takes us through his/her calculations when it comes to deciding how to adapt. It turns out that with a bit of creative thinking the CEO could manage things so that their losses could be contained, and investors wouldn't get burned. Subscribe to Unpacking Climate Risk today to read in full 👇 https://lnkd.in/eyjZ89v7 https://lnkd.in/eaUpe9sq #climaterisk #riskmanagement #extremeweather #banks #banking #investment #sustainability

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V2G and microgrids are great together. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology enhances energy deployment by allowing electric vehicles (EVs) to not only draw energy from the grid but also return it. This two-way energy exchange can help in balancing the grid and integrating renewable energy sources more effectively. #timeofusearbitrage

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