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Amazon To Test AI-Created Material For Carbon Capture In Data Centers

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Amazon is stepping up its environmental efforts by testing a groundbreaking carbon-removal material for its data centers. The company, which is tackling the growing emissions linked to the artificial intelligence systems powering these centers, has partnered with Orbital Materials, a startup that used AI to design the innovative substance.

Jonathan Godwin, CEO of Orbital Materials, explained that the new material acts like an atomic-level sponge, with cavities precisely sized to capture CO2 without interacting with other elements. This targeted approach could be a game-changer in carbon filtration.

One of the appealing aspects of the new material is its cost-effectiveness. Godwin estimates that the material could account for just 10% of the cost associated with renting a GPU chip for AI training, significantly less than the price of traditional carbon offsets.

Meanwhile, the demand for energy in data centers is rising, as AI’s rapid development requires more power and cooling solutions. This surge poses a challenge for Amazon, which is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest cloud provider by revenue, plans to begin piloting the AI-designed carbon removal material in one of its data centers starting in 2025. This initiative is part of a three-year collaboration with Orbital, which will also gain access to AWS’s technology and open-source AI tools for further development.

Howard Gefen, General Manager of AWS Energy & Utilities, stated that the partnership would promote sustainable innovation, but financial details remain undisclosed. Orbital, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey, and London, began its journey about a year ago by setting up a lab to synthesize AI-designed materials. The startup aims to work with AWS to test additional AI-generated solutions, addressing water usage and cooling requirements in data centers. Godwin co-founded Orbital, which currently employs 20 people and is supported by investors such as Radical Ventures and Nvidia’s venture arm. Before this, Godwin contributed to materials science work at Alphabet’s DeepMind until 2022.

Only 1% Of Cyprus Farms Use Precision Farming Technologies

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Cyprus remains one of the European Union’s least digitised agricultural economies, with just 1% of farms using precision farming technologies in 2023, according to Eurostat.

The findings come as the EU continues to encourage the adoption of digital tools aimed at improving agricultural productivity, efficiency and sustainability.

Internet Access Expands, But Digital Uptake Lags

Internet access has improved across the bloc, although adoption remains uneven. Eurostat found that 43% of EU farms had internet access in 2023, with northern and central European countries leading the way.

Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Austria all reported internet access rates above 90%.

Greater connectivity, however, has not translated into widespread digital adoption. Farm management information systems, which help farmers manage day-to-day operations, were used by only about 11% of EU farms. France was a notable exception, with around 60% of farms using the technology.

Precision Farming Concentrated In Larger Operations

Robotics adoption also remained relatively limited, with only about 7% of EU farms using robotic technologies. Overall, around 18% of farms with utilised agricultural area employed at least one precision farming technology or practice in 2023.

These included robotics for plant protection, band spraying, variable-rate application, precision crop monitoring and soil analysis. Despite representing fewer than one in five farms, these holdings accounted for around 44% of the EU’s utilised agricultural area.

The figures suggest that precision farming remains concentrated among larger agricultural businesses, where investment in digital technologies is typically easier to support.

Cyprus Lags Behind EU Leaders

Luxembourg, Finland and Estonia recorded the highest shares of utilised agricultural area managed by farms using precision farming technologies, each exceeding 75%.

At the other end of the ranking, Cyprus recorded just 1%, while Greece and Romania reported between 10% and 15%. The results indicate that Cyprus remains at an early stage of digital adoption in agriculture, even as precision farming becomes more widespread across parts of the European Union.

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