By employing artificial intelligence to improve signal lights, Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google lowered fuel use and traffic delays by 10% to 20% at four locations in Israel, and the company wants to test the program in Rio de Janeiro next, the company said on Wednesday. The early-stage research effort is one of several new Google software initiatives aimed at combating climate change.
Some employees, as well as advocacy groups, have urged the world’s third-most valuable firm to utilize its clout to address the situation more quickly. While Google has not responded to protesters’ demands that it stop selling technology to oil firms or sponsor lawmakers who reject global warming, it has placed a premium on environmental features.
Users of Google’s Nest thermostat will be able to purchase renewable energy credits for $10 per month in the coming weeks to offset emissions from heating and cooling. The Bethel Wind Farm and Roseland Solar projects in Texas will receive credits. Google stated that the majority of the funds will be used for credit purchases and utility bill payment charges, but did not elaborate on the remainder.
Nest customers in the United States will soon be able to automatically move their heating and cooling to periods when electricity is cheaper.
Along with search results, new informational panels display emissions or other environmental ratings for flights throughout the world, as well as autos and home appliances in the United States. To combat disinformation, beginning this month, English, Spanish, and French queries involving “climate change” will have UN explanations.
Rio de Janeiro’s municipal traffic authority has high hopes for AI to better time traffic light changes based on early findings in Israel’s Haifa and Beer-Sheva. It told Reuters that the system will be ready in a few months and that locations would be disclosed soon.
Simulations demonstrate AI could smooth traffic flow, according to Aleksandar Stevanovic, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. However, he doubted that a tech firm lacking in traffic engineering knowledge would be able to make such software a reality.
“Every year, someone new claims that we can produce miracles,” he stated.
