Blockchain for Sustainability Newsletter #34

Enterprises can now measure the carbon footprint of blockchain initiatives

Another Step to benefit Blockchain for Sustainability

Despite facilitating hundreds of enterprise projects aimed at improving sustainability performance, blockchain technology comes under scrutiny when technology decision-makers at enterprises are evaluating the tech stack of their digital initiatives. Bitcoin, which is the most popular use case of the technology uses an extremely power-hungry blockchain, and as a result, creates a significant environmental impact. However, using a broader brush to paint all blockchains as environmentally inefficient is not justified, because many blockchains that are being used in enterprise initiatives are far more energy efficient than the bitcoin blockchain. The companies behind these blockchains are making continuous efforts to reduce energy consumption and are also using the carbon-offset route to reduce their overall footprints. Ethereum blockchain, which is most widely used for enterprise projects took a huge step in 2022 to change its consensus algorithm which will reduce its energy consumption by more than 99%.

Recently, PriceWaterhouseCoopers has created an assessment framework that will allow companies to calculate the environmental footprint of their blockchain initiatives. We believe that will increase the adoption of blockchain for sustainability initiatives as technology decision-makers will be able to evaluate the actual footprint of blockchain initiatives, and could also incentivize those providers, who use more energy-efficient blockchains. |?more

Featured Projects

Climate Action

2022 saw many Voluntary Carbon Market exchanges use blockchain technology to embed a layer of trust between buyers and sellers of carbon credits. This adoption affirms the confidence of market participants in using blockchain-backed carbon markets. This has resulted in many new blockchain-based vendors emerging during the year. Efforts are also being made to ensure proper KYC of the participants so as to reduce instances of money laundering and ensure valid and certified projects make it to these exchanges. The adoption has continued till the last month of the year, and we expect many such projects in the coming year.

Companies Involved:?Climate Impact X?(CIX),?Carbonplace,?Bursa Malaysia

• CIX, Carbonplace bank-backed carbon blockchains complete joint pilot |?more
• Bursa Malaysia Launches a Voluntary Carbon Market Exchange |?more

Recycling and Waste Management

• The textile and fashion industry which creates 92 million tons of waste annually, can also benefit from using blockchain by creating digital twins of clothes. Doing this will improve the recycling of clothes as the buyers of used clothes will be able to trace the ownership and verify the authenticity of the clothes they are buying.
• Another initiative, allows companies to transparently fund plastic waste removal from oceans in Indonesia and create a positive environmental impact.
• In order to reduce paper waste, many companies deploy waste management companies that shred and recycle this waste. However, the waste generated by companies is unpredictable, and therefore, lack of visibility into waste generated by an organization can make the operations of waste management companies inefficient by triggering wasted trips to collect half-filled containers. Using blockchain and IoT this process can be optimized.

Companies Involved:?Lablaco,?ReSea Project,?VeChain,?The Hidden Sea,?Rhenus Group, and?Commerzbank

• How virtual clothes could help solve fashion’s waste problem |?more
• Resea’s Profit-For-Purpose Partnerships Removing Waste in Indonesia|?more
• Commerzbank in automated DLT solution for document recycling |?more

Community Health and Wellness

Providing health coverage to the communities has never been more critical in the aftermath of three COVID waves that the world has seen in the past three years. Most Governments are prioritizing strengthening of healthcare infrastructure to improve coverage and make it more affordable. In a similar vein, the Government of India launched the national digital health identity scheme in 2021, which will create a health account for each of its 1.3 billion citizens. The ‘Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’ is a program aimed at providing universal health coverage efficiently and at a lower cost through the use of digital IDs. The mission is now using blockchain technology in this vast and critical initiative to ensure that adequate benefits can be delivered to deserving people transparently.

Companies Involved:?Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission?and?LifeClips

• Life Clips Subsidiary Belfrics Receives Digital Health Record Contract from the Indian Government |?more

Sustainable Agriculture

The food industry is responsible for one-fourth of global emissions. This includes various processes in the upstream and downstream of the food supply chain. From changing land use to using synthetic crop protection methods, and inefficient packaging and transportation, the agriculture industry has a huge scope for improving its sustainability footprint. Using blockchain-based platforms that connect the farmers to the market, can drive efficiency in the agri-supply chains. These platforms can also be used to disseminate information about sustainable farming methods. We recently came across an initiative in Brazil, where blockchain technology-based platforms are ready to empower agriculture in the country.

Companies Involved:?Ceres Agrointeligencia?and?Dimitra

• Dimitra Making Strides in the Brazilian Agricultural Market |?more

Funding Updates

Recent Fundraising Activity

• C+Charge?is a company that is building a robust Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payment system for EV charging stations built on blockchain technology. The company is on a mission to democratize the carbon credits industry and reward electric vehicle (EV) drivers for charging their cars. The company has launched a pre-sale of its token $CCHG pricing it at the starting price of $0.013 and aims to raise $6.6 million at the end of this presale. |?more

Upcoming Events

World Crypto Conference: 13-15 January 2023, Zurich, Switzerland.

• Keynote speech from the most prominent women leaders in the web3 industry celebrating active women participation in the industry

ICIOTBB 2023: 17th International Conference on Internet of Things Based on Blockchain: 16-17 January 2023, Zurich, Switzerland.

• Paper discussion on patient health record data securely shared through IoT and blockchain and using blockchain to extend the vendor-managed inventory for sustainability.

Female Disruptors: 18 January 2023, Online.

• Celebrating women's participation in metaverse, NFTs, and web3.

Fintech Retreat: 30 January 2023, SF, United States.

• Session on responsible innovation from the founder of The Association of Women in Crypto.

CariNext 2023 - Caribbean Blockchain & Tech Summit: 30 January- 2 February 2023, Bahamas.

• Keynote on sustainability in the blockchain industry. Specifics are yet to be decided.

Blockchain Solutions World: 30 January- 2 February 2023, Barcelona, Spain.

• Session on blockchain and AI in healthcare, agriculture, and food industry, climate crisis, decentralizing energy & utilities, making Public Health more effective, building trust and transparency in manufacturing, supply chains, transport and logistics, and more.

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Disclaimer: The information in this newsletter does not constitute investment or professional advice and investors and other users of this newsletter should not rely on it for investment or other purposes. While we have taken due care and caution in the compilation and presentation of the information and data in this report, no warranty is made as to the completeness, accuracy, or utility of this analysis. Users are also advised to review the detailed?disclaimer,?terms of use, and?privacy policy?on our website.