Optimizing Renewable Energy with AI: Environmental Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Strategies

Book chapter, 2025

Conventional energy sources play a significant role in meeting the energy demand globally, which is responsible for the economic growth worldwide. Consumption of fossil fuels results in a significant amount of greenhouse gases emissions and environmental impacts. In the last two decades, Renewable energy systems have attracted various researchers, scientists, and government policymakers for their sustainability potential. It is apparent that renewable energy systems assist in the mitigation of emissions into the environment, however, their significant negative impacts on environmental health cannot be ignored and are to be considered. The effects include pollution, greenhouse gases emissions, ecological disturbances, human health, ozone depletion, flooding, and natural resources depletion. Although these effects are caused much less harshly as compared to fossil fuels, nevertheless appropriate precautions are to be taken. Technology development has given rise to fields notably as Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial intelligence (AI). They do possess the power to change the renewable energy sector. Power firms may improve their projections, administer existing grid, and plan upgrades by utilizing AI. Renewables are without a doubt the energy of the future, yet one of its biggest problems is that it is unpredictable. AI has helped a lot in whether prediction, this forecast information is used by the energy providers to manage the power systems. The businesses generate and preserve sustainable power if the prognosis is favorable. Power firms adjust overall load management depending on negative forecasts also. To maintain a continuous energy, companies prepare ahead of potential issue and turn to coal and oil for assistance. This chapter provides an overview of the social and environmental impacts of various renewable energy systems: solar, wind, hydro, and biomass energy. Implications of AI are reviewed and discussed with a curiosity to accomplish thirst of knowledge for how AI succors’ renewable energy systems. Also, a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis is formulated for all the energy systems to assist the energy advisors in considering both positive and negative impacts of particular energy systems.