# AI for climate: a real world test

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2023-06-15
- Length: 1h 19m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test

## Summary

Duncan Campbell, vice president at Scale Microgrids, and Seyed Madaeni, CEO of Verse, test whether a non-coder can use ChatGPT-4 to build battery dispatch software. Campbell iteratively prompts the model to create a Python optimizer for a 25MW battery in the CAISO market, successfully generating code that retrieves historical prices and calculates optimal charge/discharge schedules. Madaeni evaluates the resulting code, noting its clarity and optimization logic while highlighting missing complexity like ancillary services and forecasting. The episode demonstrates that AI can significantly accelerate the development of analytical tools for energy markets, reducing a task that would take engineers weeks to hours for a domain expert.

## Chapters

- [0:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=1) Introduction: The AI for Climate Test
- [5:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=320) Defining the Challenge: CAISO Battery Dispatch
- [14:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=870) Duncan's Iterative Process with ChatGPT
- [24:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=1495) Debugging Constraints and Cycle Definitions
- [31:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=1872) Limitations: Forecasting and Ancillary Services
- [44:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=2690) Code Review: Section-by-Section Analysis
- [58:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=3492) Time Savings and Cost Comparison
- [1:10:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=4217) Takeaways: Efficiency vs. Novelty
- [1:18:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test#t=4685) Future Applications: Utility Tariffs

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Verse (company)
- ChatGPT (tool)
- CAISO (other)
- Grid Status (tool)
- Fluence (company)
- Tesla (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [151. Battery Chemistry GPT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-12-05-151-battery-chemistry-gpt) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [Like a steam engine in your house](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2025-04-15-like-a-steam-engine-in-your-house) (The Amp Hour)
- [Does a GPT future need software engineers?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Powering the AI Era Sustainably: Breakthrough Climate Hardware Tech from 8 Innovators](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2025-12-04-powering-the-ai-era-sustainably-breakthrough-climate-hardware-tech-from-8-innova) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Episode Twenty-Four: Gopal Ramchurn](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-11-04-episode-twenty-four-gopal-ramchurn) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-06-15-ai-for-climate-a-real-world-test. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.