Using new AI techniques like deep learning and knowledge-guided machine learning, researchers at the AI-CLIMATE Institute will improve accuracy and lower the cost of accounting for carbon and greenhouse gases in farms and forests, ultimately making the process more accessible for more people. However, with current technology, it’s both difficult and expensive for farmers and foresters to accurately measure how much carbon they’ve sequestered. Farmers and foresters may be rewarded for doing this through carbon markets, or systems in which property owners can sell “carbon credits” - equal to the amount of carbon dioxide their farm or forest has sequestered - to companies trying to offset their carbon emissions. “By 2050, the United States aims to have net zero carbon emissions, and one of the most promising ways to do this is using natural systems like forestry and agriculture as ‘carbon sinks.’”įarms and forests can be used as carbon sinks, which pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than they release. ![]() “One of the driving factors of climate effects is carbon emissions,” said Shashi Shekhar, director of the institute and a professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The researchers will also collaborate with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the tribal nations it represents. The institute is one of seven new NSF- and USDA-funded AI Institutes announced today and is part of a larger federal initiative - totaling nearly half a billion dollars - to bolster collaborative AI research across the country.ĪI-CLIMATE will bring together scientists and engineers, including national experts on AI and climate-smart ag and forestry from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Cornell University, Colorado State University, Delaware State University, Purdue University and North Carolina State University. Researchers at the AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE) aim to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while simultaneously boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries. The University of Minnesota will lead the new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute funded by a $20 million grant over five years from the National Science Foundation and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Credit: Rich Ryan, University of MinnesotaĪdapted from a University of Minnesota press release.Ĭolorado State University researchers will play a key role in a new research institute that will leverage artificial intelligence to create more sustainable farms and forests. ![]() A map of Minnesota’s Seven Mile Creek Watershed created by University of Minnesota researchers’ AI-powered GeoDesign tool showing farming practices that could optimize carbon sequestration and boost soil health.
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