Digital Economy and the Environment
Digital technologies and digitalization hold great potential to benefit or damage the environment. They are seen both as a major threat — responsible for significant and growing emissions because of their energy use — and as a critical enabler of emissions reductions across the economy. The lecture series examines these dual dimensions of the digital economy, exploring environmental impacts of the digital economy, how the methods of industrial ecology can contribute to the assessment of the likely impacts, and how digital technologies can enhance industrial ecology research.
Lectures are open to the public and the Yale Community and most are virtual via Zoom.
October 25: Is Data Center/AI Electricity Use Driving Up U.S. Electricity Demand? with Jon Koomey
Electricity demand from increasing in development and sue of AI and various forms of digitization has become a focus of public concern and debate. Jon Koomey (researcher, author, lecturer and entrepreneurer) will bring empirical data to bear on the question of whether widely cited increases in data center demand, particularly for artificial intelligence/machine learning applications, has been driving up electricity demand in the US. He will review the evidence for demand growth at the state and national levels and discuss the factors that are likely to shape that demand in the future.
Slides are available to view here.
November 14: A Perspective on Data and Digital Systems Integration for Circular Integration for Circular Economy Assessment with Franco Donati
Franco Donati, a leader in the application of artificial intelligence to life cycle assessment, will speak to circular economy interventions for assessment and monitoring of data and the integration of digital technologies across numerous fields. Donati will present a perspective on potential methods and digital infrastructure integrations from fieldwork to artificial intelligence, and their relationship with core industrial ecology methods. The aim is to stimulate dialogue on how to further promote assessment and monitoring of resource use through digital technologies as we work toward an environmentally friendly circular economy.
January 24: On Not Re-inventing the Wheel: An Overview of Research on the Relationship Between Digital Technologies and the Environment with Lorenz Hilty
While analysis of the opportunities and risks of digital technologies for the environment may seem novel to some, this topic has been researched and assessed for decades, under labels such as ‘ICT for Sustainability’, ‘Environmental Informatics’, ‘Green IT/ICT’, in the context of Technology Assessment (TA) studies, and, more recently, the “digital economy and the environment.” In this talk, Lorenz Hilty, a leader in this field, will provide an overview of the development of this application-oriented research and structure it along the main research questions. Register here to attend.
Spring ‘25: The Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets
Spring ‘25: When Consumption Goes Digital
Spring ‘25: Using LLMs/AI for Greenwashing Detection in Corporate Climate Policy