Brief Author Note

Oof, this was quite the week in terms of both AI policy and renewable energy!

The Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law by President Trump on July 4 after the House passed it.

Aside from tax cuts and military spending, the bill underwent numerous amendments and alterations in a heavily contested debate across party lines.

Two interesting provisions were dropped including an effort to ban states from regulating AI for 10 years and a proposed excise tax on solar and wind energy projects.

This is going to be an interesting year for the climate and AI policy worlds…

Chau,

Nate

Quick Links!

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• Scientific Papers

• Policy Documents

• Multimedia

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Environment Variables Year Three Roundup (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): It’s been three years of Environment Variables! What a landmark year for the Green Software Foundation. From launching behind-the-scenes Backstage episodes, to covering the explosive impact of AI on software emissions, to broadening our audience through beginner-friendly conversations; this retrospective showcases our mission to create a trusted ecosystem for sustainable software. Here’s to many more years of EV!

Backstage: Software Standards Working Group SCI (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): In this Backstage episode of Environment Variables, podcast producer Chris Skipper highlights the Green Software Foundation’s Software Standards Working Group—chaired by Henry Richardson (WattTime) and Navveen Balani (Accenture). This group is central to shaping global benchmarks for sustainable software. Key initiatives discussed include the Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) Specification.

Why Your AI Questions are a Power and Water Drain (AI & Environment): How often do you use AI chatbots? They’re becoming part of our everyday lives. But when you pump in a question into something like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, do you ever think about the energy it uses? Today, Gordon Noble from the Institute of Sustainable Futures at UTS on the power hungry data centres driving AI, the water used to keep them cool and the cost for the environment.

Surveying the Deep: A Review of Computer Vision in the Benthos (AI & Ocean Conservation): This paper reviews the use of computer vision in benthic biodiversity monitoring, aiming to bridge the gap between marine ecology and AI by outlining key concepts, challenges, datasets, and future research directions to support more automated and accessible image analysis in marine science.

A Review of Green Artificial Intelligence: Towards a More Sustainable Future (AI & Policy/ESG): This paper explores green AI as a path to environmental sustainability by promoting energy-efficient models, democratized access, eco-friendly AI applications, and regulatory frameworks to align machine learning practices with global climate goals.

AI’s Energy Addiction: Why Clean Fuels are the Only Shot at a Sustainable Future (AI & Energy): This paper examines AI’s dual role as both a driver of rising global energy demand and a potential catalyst for decarbonization, arguing that scaling clean fuels like hydrogen and advanced nuclear, backed by smart policy and AI-enabled innovations, is essential to align AI growth with climate targets.

IT Toolkit for Responsible and Sustainable AI (AI & Sustainability): Dive into this open-access toolkit for the IT sector when it comes to designing Responsible and Sustainable AI principles.

Fact Sheet: Use of Backup Generators to Maintain the Reliability of the Electric Grid (AI & Energy): Read more about the EPA’s clarification about the use of backup generators to maintain the reliability of the electric grid through this fact sheet. This has been gaining traction ever since xAI’s Colossus facility has been found illegally running 35 methane gas burning generators 24/7.

2025 State of the Cloud Report (AI & Infrastructure): The Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report sheds light on cloud computing trends, the pressures facing IT professionals and the strategic initiatives they’re using to remain competitive in today’s dynamic and evolving landscape. Artificial intelligence (AI), software licensing and sustainability in the cloud are all getting increased attention.

Sustain AI: Powering Sustainable Futures with AI (AI & Sustainable Development): The full film celebrating the recent Bright Tide Sustain AI accelerator programme in collaboration with Hogan Lovells (HL BaSE), featuring our Sustain AI Ambassador, Lord Ranger, alongside several of the innovative ventures (Gamaya, Synature and Ecodetect) from the cohort. Sustain AI is designed to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs harnessing artificial intelligence for positive environmental impact—from biodiversity monitoring and regenerative agriculture to climate resilience and nature restoration.

AI and Sustainability Playlist (AI & Environmental Impact): Dive into this groundbreaking podcast that unpacks the powerful intersection of AI, sustainability, and higher education. Listen to inspiring voices as they share how AI is driving sustainable development and reshaping education. Uncover the transformative potential of AI as well as ensuing risks and challenges in tackling climate change, addressing inequality, and powering smarter learning systems. Join the global conversation on the ethics, opportunities, and disruptions AI brings to education and its role in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

How do AI, ML, & DL Affect Global Warming? (AI & Environmental Impact): A few podcasts on AI in Climate Science, Modeling and Predictions. AI is helping every sector with efficiency, emissions and innovations. AI can help monitor and reduce emissions in electricity production/transmission, agriculture, etc. But AI itself is an energy hog. Data centers are booming in number and size. Sustainability of AI itself is a major issue now. Market forces alone will not be. Enough to ensure this. Regulations and international coordination are needed.

Ostrom (AI & Energy): Ostrom is a Certified B Corp™ digital energy management platform based in Berlin that makes green electricity affordable and straightforward for households in Germany. Unlike other traditional providers with lengthy contracts, Ostrom offers monthly tariffs, end-to-end English and German support, and electricity at market purchase price, which comes from 100 percent renewable energy sources.

Climatiq (AI & Policy/ESG): Climatiq provides a carbon calculation engine that enables product teams to easily embed emission metrics into their software. Delivered through an easy-to-use API, it empowers anyone to automate complex CO2e calculations and understand the carbon footprint of business activities including procurement, freight transport, cloud computing, energy consumption, travel, manufacturing, waste, etc. These calculations are powered by the largest repository of scientifically vetted emission factors, covering 300 regions and all economic sectors.

Kestrix (AI & Infrastructure): We are starting by building the 'Google Maps of heat loss' , we commission thermal drone flights over entire neighbourhoods at a time, map and quantify heat loss, and generate retrofit plans. It's like the energy survey from the sky, or the data layer to power the built environment's climate transition.

Global Food Twin Map (AI & Agriculture): An open-access model of the Earth's entire food system!

Benchlab Videos – Text-to-Video Energy Benchmark (AI & Energy): This folder contains all scripts, SLURM job files, and results related to the energy benchmarking of state-of-the-art text-to-video open generation models as of June 2025.

SCARF: Stress-Corrected Assessment of Water Resource Footprint (AI & Water Resources): SCARF is implemented by python. It is designed to evaluate the environmental impact of water consumption by integrating spatial and temporal variations of water stress.

UNFCCC CAPACITY Fellowship Opportunity: Climate Change Fellowship Programme (Bonn, Germany): Are you a mid-career professional from a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) or Least Developed Country (LDC)? Do you work in government and want to boost your skills in international climate policy and carbon market mechanisms? The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is now accepting applications for its prestigious CAPACITY Fellowship Programme, offering a €4,500 monthly stipend, valuable global networking opportunities, and training in Article 6 implementation of the Paris Agreement. 🗓️ Deadline: August 3, 2025.

Climate Change Fellowship Changemakers Europe Program (Europe): This programme is for young changemakers based / with impact in Europe who are looking to use AI to deepen or scale their impact. 🗓️ Deadline: July 13, 2025.

The Clean Economy Research Bridge Program (virtual but with ties to Canada, Europe, and the US): The Clean Economy Bridge Research Program is a new opportunity for youth from* Canada, the United States, and Germany to lead tangible, policy-relevant research on key topics driving the clean energy economy and transatlantic cooperation. 🗓️ Deadline: July 9, 2025.

If you have resources that you wish to submit to the AI & Environment Resource Hub, fill out the Google Form! Thank you for suggesting resources to add to the Resource Hub. 🙃 

That’s it for this week.

Thanks for reading the 7th issue of The Climate Code! It means a lot to me and we have more coming in the future, so definitely stick around! 🏃‍♂️💛

Nate

P.S.

New here? Check out the AI & Environment Resource Hub if you have no idea what it is. 😆