How to make AI greener and more efficient

Wirth Research, an engineering company that specialises in computational fluid dynamics, has become increasingly concerned with environmental sustainability. It initially focused on the design of racing cars, allowing clients to replace expensive wind tunnel work with computerised modelling, but in recent years it has designed equipment that reduces the aerodynamic drag of lorries, and a device which reduces cold air escaping from open-fronted supermarket fridges, cutting energy use by a quarter. The Bicester-based company also wanted to reduce the energy used by its detailed computerised modelling, which for car aerodynamics simulates around half a billion tiny cells of air. It had already adjusted the resolution of cells within each model, with a finer sub-millimetre mesh used near sharp edges. Then, during the pandemic when it realised staff could work effectively from home, Wirth moved its computing from its own site to a renewable energy-powered datacentre in Iceland run by Verne Global.