That's it: since August 9, Europe has been calling on its citizens to reduce their energy consumption in order to collectively achieve a 15% reduction. But Europe is not betting on artificial intelligence, regrets Baptiste Fosséprez, CEO of a company in the sector.
For more than a year, two subjects have been at the center of Belgian concerns. The increase in the cost of energy (gas, petrol, electricity...) due in large part to the geopolitical context and the resulting drop in purchasing power (energy being the basis of the functioning of our societies). In addition, there is a growing awareness of the importance of acting quickly and effectively in the face of the greatest challenge in the history of humanity: climate change. Climate change is intrinsically linked to our (over)consumption of energy, mostly fossil fuels.
The situation is so dramatic throughout Europe that the member states of the European Union have just committed to reducing their consumption by 15% for fear of a possible disruption of Russian gas supplies and the possible paralysis of entire sectors of our economy that could result. How can we do this? By encouraging citizens, administrations and companies to apply a principle of sobriety and economy. Since August 9 and until next spring, Europeans are invited to consume less energy (air conditioning, lighting ...), to move or produce less ...
Applying a principle of sobriety is an interesting approach in a world that constantly overconsumes everything. But no sustainable solution can come from this principle, because it does not solve our problems of energy dependency and overconsumption of resources. It is the model that must be changed. The energy needed to run our societies can no longer be of fossil origin. Our way of life cannot continue to exploit more resources than the planet can sustainably provide. Our production and consumption of material goods (including food) cannot leave room for inefficiency and waste.
We must think (and plan) a transition to a decarbonized world, integrating the fact that natural resources (materials and energy) are constrained, and this in a holistic way: for transportation, residential, agriculture, industry or energy production and distribution.
The question then arises: why is Europe so far behind in terms of energy dependence? It is not as if we discovered hydraulic, wind or solar energy just now. Hydraulic energy is more than 100 years old, solar energy thanks to photovoltaic is more than 60 years old. The concept of sustainability was introduced in 1987 by the United Nations Brundtland Commission. The first IPCC assessment report dates from 1990. What have our politicians done since then? Where is the medium-term strategy? The conclusion is cruel: we have missed the boat. But it is time to get a grip. It is possible to project ourselves into a world using energy in a reasonable and reasoned way. To quote Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele, "the future is not inevitable, it depends on the choices made in the years and decades to come".
There is also the question of what tools and techniques to leverage, including artificial intelligence. Will we also let the AI train pass us by in planning our transition? For now, at least, not much is moving. And yet, AI is essential to understand and manage our energy production and the uses we make of it. Today, China is developing its cities by fully integrating AI. It has understood how much it can benefit from effective data management. And it is using AI to forecast energy consumption, pollution (which causes 4,000 deaths a day in China), and energy needs for each neighborhood, depending on the time of day. Not to mention the use of AI to manage weather forecasts, which are essential for the proper production of renewable energy. Also in Asia, a tool powered by artificial intelligence has just been created by researchers in Singapore to map the potential of sustainable roofs around the world.
This strategy is referred to as intelligentization or the ability of politicians to integrate the use of AI to manage the cities of tomorrow. An intelligentization that can be developed for our societies too. Many Belgian cities and politicians are convinced that they are doing Smart Cities because they integrate some digitalization and data collection in their daily management. But, we are nowhere.
In our country, AI is not integrated in our energy strategies and is not put at the service of our industrial and renewable energy production tools, despite great initiatives such as those developed by DigitalWallonia, the Agence du numérique or Agoria.
This is a shame given the fact that our country has companies specialized in ultra-performing AI, such as Sagacify, Haulogy, or B12 Consulting. The company I work for, PEPITe, in Liège, develops for example data management software that allows to save up to 15-20% of energy in industrial processes and to optimize renewable energy production processes. The AI made in Belgium is able to highlight an energy underperformance, to study the model to change it and to know when to use it in order to reduce its energy consumption by 15 to 20%, which is exactly what the European states are committed to do in the next few months, and this in a sustainable way.
Baptiste Fosséprez, CEO of PEPITe.