Using AI to make wind farms and vehicles more energy-efficient
With George Rigas, expert in aerodynamics
"Our research shows that we can improve their performance by enabling each turbine to act independently, creating a situation where the entire wind farm ‘dances’ to collectively optimise the wind energy extraction.”
Decarbonising complex processes in the energy and transport sectors requires a radical approach. In a world first, George Rigas, a Reader in Fluid Mechanics, has used AI to create ‘digital twins’ and decision-making algorithms that improve the performance of wind turbines and road vehicles.
An expert in both AI and aerodynamics within the Department of Aeronautics, George was Principal Investigator in the government-funded AI for Net Zero project, aimed at making critical systems underpinning the transition to net-zero emissions more energy efficient.
“Sectors such as road transport and aviation are very difficult to decarbonise, but there’s clearly a pressing need to do this,” says George. “Using AI as the enabler, we have created Digital Twins (virtual replicas of the physical systems) which monitor and analyse the system’s performance in real-time, and then take decisions based on the data.”
When it comes to reducing the emissions of road vehicles, the focus is generally on finding alternatives to the combustion engine but, George says: “No-one has looked into the aerodynamics. In this project we’ve added adaptive flaps to the rear of a replica vehicle and tested this in a wind tunnel.
George and colleagues have taken a similar approach with wind turbines.
“The consensus has always been that when the wind changes direction, the turbines should all turn towards the wind. Our research shows that we can improve their performance by enabling each turbine to act independently, creating a situation where the entire wind farm ‘dances’ to collectively optimise the wind energy extraction.”
“This has proven that a complex system can use information about air flow to make decisions which improve energy efficiency by changing the shape of the vehicle based on the environment and flow conditions. We’ve successfully demonstrated that you can reduce the energy needed to propel a vehicle by 10 per cent, which is groundbreaking.”
To make this a reality George and his team have used the UK’s national wind tunnel facility based at Imperial, and drawn on expertise from the University’s I-X (flagship AI initiative at White City Campus), Grantham Institute for Environmental Science and Energy Futures Lab. They have also worked closely with project partners from government, industry (Nvidia, Atkins and Catesby Projects) and other universities (Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh).
“This has proven that a complex system can use information about air flow to make decisions which improve energy efficiency by changing the shape of the vehicle based on the environment and flow conditions. We’ve successfully demonstrated that you can reduce the energy needed to propel a vehicle by 10 per cent, which is groundbreaking.”
Taking an interdisciplinary approach across academia, industry and government has been fundamental to the success of the AI at Net Zero project, which finished in March 2025 – and reflects George’s own philosophy.
“Increasingly, research is about combining ideas from different disciplines, and Imperial really promotes this way of working. I haven’t found any other university where it’s so easy to talk to people from other fields – and this is what enables new thinking.
About George
George came to Imperial for his PhD having studied in Athens, in his homeland of Greece, for a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He says that his innate curiosity is what drove him towards a career in scientific research.
“I learnt that there was no solution to the problem of turbulence, and I became really fascinated by that. For me, the adrenaline comes from solving fundamental problems, which is why a career in research was appealing to me.
“What was great about the AI for Net Zero project was that it combined blue sky thinking with industrial need and real applications. The technology we’ve developed – once scaled up – could enable some really smart engineering systems that make a big contribution to achieving Net Zero. The possibility of making this kind of difference through research is very inspiring.”
Want to be part of the impact?
Built with Shorthand