US Energy Department Looks to Boost Clean Energy Production with AI

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) is exploring whether AI can accelerate clean energy production, nextgov reported. With an investment of nearly $20 million, the department is developing and testing AI-driven tools aimed at expediting lengthy permitting processes.

These tools are designed to help government employees access and analyze historical permitting and environmental data as part of a three-year initiative called VoltAIc. The goal is for AI to enhance decision-making and speed up the construction of clean energy infrastructure.

Called PolicyAI, the initiative focuses on creating AI-powered software to enhance federal reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This landmark environmental law mandates agencies to evaluate the significant environmental impacts of major actions, including the issuance of permits.

According to Sai Munikoti, Data Scientist and Co-Principal Investigator for the project at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the department is currently testing prototypes internally and has established a data lakehouse—a hybrid of data lake and data warehouse architectures—to store historical NEPA documents.

A summary report released earlier this year by the DoE examined artificial intelligence’s potential benefits and risks for critical energy infrastructure. 

This coincides with the White House announcement of Federal agencies completing their 180-day actions mandated in the October AI executive order and is in line with the Biden-Harris administration's strategy for harnessing AI's benefits and ensuring its responsible deployment.