New Waterford and Carlow collaboration aims to slash AI's carbon footprint
Pictured L-R: Liam Fitzgerald, Walton Institute, Gary Evans, Feedalpha, Jim Prendergast, Walton Institute, Dr Indrakshi Dey, Walton Institute
A new collaboration between SETU in Waterford and a Carlow based business is aimed at significantly reducing AI's carbon footprint.
Feedalpha in Carlow, and SETU Waterford’s Walton Institute have teamed up to spearhead GreenSphere, a transformative new initiative designed to revolutionise digital content generation through artificial intelligence while at the same time addressing the environmental concerns of AI scalability.
The GreenSphere project represents a bold step forward in Ireland’s digital innovation landscape, combining the industry expertise of Enterprise Ireland’s Feedalpha with Walton Institute’s advanced research capabilities to create energy-efficient, high-performance AI solutions for SMEs.
As demand for dynamic, AI-generated content grows, so too does the environmental footprint of the large language models (LLMs) that power them.
Speaking about the new collaboration, Gary Evans, CEO of Feedalpha Group, said: "AI is now at the heart of everything we do - transforming how we learn, work, make decisions and connect with one another."
"At Feedalpha, we’ve seen firsthand the game-changing power and rising energy demands of current AI systems," he said.
"Partnering with the Walton Institute, we’re building more than just a next-gen language model; we’re creating a versatile, energy-efficient AI platform that can drive smarter analytics, real-time automation and personalised experiences for SMEs while drastically cutting carbon emissions.”
Meanwhile, Liam Fitzgerald, ICS Technology Gateway Manager at Walton Institute, said the work with Feedalpha exemplifies how Ireland's Ireland’s research ecosystem can support indigenous tech companies to innovate responsibly.
“GreenSphere is not just a project, it’s a model for how AI can serve both business and the environment," said Mr Fitzgerald. He commented that GreenSphere promises to set a new standard for green AI in content creation and serve as a replicable model for SMEs striving to integrate advanced technologies without compromising sustainability.
He also said the project reinforces Walton Institute’s leadership in AI research and showcases how Irish SMEs like Feedalpha are shaping the future of ethical and energy-conscious digital transformation.
Through GreenSphere, Feedalpha contributes extensive knowledge of client needs and digital strategy, while Walton Institute brings deep research expertise in meta-learning and federated AI architectures and green computing and energy-aware algorithm design.
The partnership’s roots lie in a structured innovation pathway, that began with a Digital Maturity Assessment through ENTIRE European Digital Innovation Hub in May 2024, and it progressed through two Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers with the ICS Technology Gateway at Walton Institute.
That laid the foundation for a bespoke AI development framework and those early-stage successes created the opportunity for a successful application to the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership Programme.
