Blockchain for Sustainability Newsletter #35
New Projects, Funding updates, and Success Stories!
Blockchain for Sustainability Success
150+ projects are using blockchain for Re-Fi initiatives
Regenerative finance (Re-Fi) is a type of financial system that focuses on investing in projects and businesses that promote sustainability and regeneration of natural resources while creating opportunities for investors to generate returns on their investments. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies enable Re-Fi projects through a unique combination of properties that make this finance ecosystem more transparent, decentralized, and automated. The popularity of this technology in Re-Fi projects was recently highlighted by Particula in an Industry map of 150+ projects that include Tokenized Carbon Credits & Crypto-native Credits”, Carbon NFT’s and DAO’s. The strong momentum in blockchain-driven Re-Fi projects has continued through 2022, despite the ongoing crypto winter, and this should contribute to bridging the enormous climate finance gap. Please see the project map below and find more detail on Particula blog.
Recent Blockchain for Sustainability Projects
Climate Action
Carbon offsetting is a way for companies and individuals to offset their carbon emissions by investing in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Blockchain can be used to create a tamper-proof record of carbon credit transactions, ensuring that the credits are valid and have not been double-counted. Through tokenization, blockchain allows access to carbon markets for individuals and small businesses. Overall, blockchain technology has the potential to make carbon offsetting more efficient and effective.
While the shift toward renewable energy needs to accelerate, the reality is that the majority of electricity across the globe is still produced through fossil fuels. Therefore, there is an urgent need to ensure that companies in the non-renewable energy ecosystem must do their bit to make their operations less taxing on the environment. Natural Gas remains the second largest source of electricity production after coal, and one way of reducing its environmental footprint is by promoting the use of low-emission natural gas. This can be achieved by improving the certification and visibility of natural gas so that electricity producers can take responsible decisions. Blockchain can bring transparency into the natural gas supply chain.
Companies Involved: IMPT, Thallo, Williams, Coterra, and Dominion Energy
IMPT Announces €50 Million 10-Year Deal to Purchase Carbon Credits from Thallo | more
Williams Executes Agreements with Coterra and Dominion Energy for Delivery of Full-Value Chain Certified Low Emission Next Gen Gas | more
Recycling and Waste Management
Reducing and recovering waste is important in every industry, but becomes critical in the perishable foods industry. It helps to conserve resources and minimize the environmental impact of food production and distribution, while also reducing costs for businesses by minimizing the amount of food that is lost or thrown away. If the recovered waste can be channeled properly, it can also address hunger and starvation in communities that are economically weaker. Blockchain technology which allows traceability can be instrumental in providing infrastructure through which the reduction and recovery of waste in the food sector can be implemented.
The production, use, and disposal of plastics can have a significant impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Plastics are made from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and petroleum, and their production and use can result in the release of GHGs, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), into the atmosphere. Blockchain technology can help to reduce plastic waste by providing a secure and transparent means of tracking and managing the lifecycle of plastic products and at the same time enabling a marketplace for recycled plastic products to increase their visibility and use in plastic supply chains.
Companies Involved: Izertis, Ondoan, EROSKI, Lointek, Orloga, Segula, Tecnipesa, Plastigaur, Udapa, Harakai, Rebound, Bioeconomy and ACX
Izertis participates in the N0Waste project for the sustainability of the agri-food sector | more
Rebound Ltd., Bioeconomy and ACX sign a Memorandum of Understanding forming a Net-Zero Carbon and Plastics Alliance | more
Responsible Supply Chain
The traceability of materials in the textile industry is extremely important and can help promote sustainability by ensuring that materials are sourced from sustainable and ethical sources and that products are produced in an environmentally-friendly and socially responsible way. Several governments are framing regulations that mandate traceability and customers are getting inclined to buy products that are transparent. Blockchain technology can enable real-time visibility into complex fabric supply chains and in a recent update a blockchain-based traceability provider has launched a solution that can be used by all stakeholders in the textile ecosystem.
Company Involved: FiberTrace
FibreTrace launches new digital blockchain solution ‘MAPPED’ at ‘no cost’ | more
Sustainable Agriculture
In recent years, rising awareness about the sustainability profile of foods has meant that meat consumption has come under the scrutiny of consumers because of the significant negative environmental impact caused due to animal farming. This has given rise to the alternative meat industry and people who consume animal meat are inquisitive about the source of their meat and the agricultural methods used to raise cattle. This has meant that cattle farms are modernizing and adopting sustainable farming methods that lead to lower emissions and energy consumption by utilizing waste-to-energy methods. Blockchain technology can allow such farms to record the data related to these sustainable agricultural methods and present it to their customers to build trust with their customers.
Regenerative agriculture is a farming method that focuses on regenerating soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. This method has several advantages which make it an environmentally friendly method of farming. It can improve biodiversity, preserve the quality of soil, sequester carbon, reduce water usage and increase crop yields. However, lack of funding and awareness has prevented the adoption of this sustainable agriculture method. Bringing regenerative agriculture projects to the carbon markets can make them popular and provide incentives for farmers to use this method. Blockchain can bring traceability into regenerative agriculture projects and help them list on carbon exchanges.
Companies involved: Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., Olson Farms/TD Angus, ClimateTrade, and Azolla Projects
Bion and Olson Farms/TD Angus Announce Nebraska Sustainable Beef Practices Project | more
Azolla Projects and ClimateTrade run first EU-aligned carbon farming pilot in Spain | more
Funding Updates
Recent Fundraising Activity
Air Carbon Exchange brings traditional commodities trading infrastructure to the carbon markets and offers lower fees, efficient trading, settlement risk mitigation, and transparent pricing by using blockchain technology. The company has raised $15 million in a convertible note series round led by Singapore-based decarbonization investor, TRIREC and joined by other investors including Mubadala Investment Company PJSC and Thailand’s Banpu Public Company. | more, and more
Open Forest Protocol (OFP), is a pioneering open forest measurement, reporting, and verification platform built on a carbon-neutral blockchain. It has raised $4.1 million in a recently closed pre-seed round, attracting 17 investors including Shima Capital, Übermorgen Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Byzantine Marine, Big Brain Holdings, and Valor Capital, among others. | more
Provenance Tags is a company that uses blockchain, IoT, and NFC technologies to develop solutions that allow companies to address counterfeiting and tamper-proofing. Recently, Tacans AG, a Switzerland-based web3 venture builder has invested an undisclosed amount in the company. | more
IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It launched the Digital Tokens for Biodiversity Innovation Challenge to identify innovative solutions that use digital tokens to promote biodiversity conservation and facilitate action in the face of climate change. The challenge concluded in early January 2023 and four companies from the LAC region were selected to receive financial support:
Fundación Futuro, a not-for-profit organization from Ecuador working in climate change, conservation, and sustainable development plans to expand the scope of its zero carbon system and offer monetary incentives to landowners for conservation and restoration, including communities favoring the transition to digital governance of DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations).
Terrasos, a Colombian company focused on the development and operation of biodiversity conservation projects via Habitat Banks plans to combine the concept of biodiversity credit with digital tokens to provide greater traceability and transparency to transactions by implementing blockchain technology.
The Cropper Foundation from Trinidad and Tobago facilitates environmentally sustainable, equitable, and just development in the Caribbean Region, primarily in the fields of environmental resource governance and management, sustainable agricultural livelihoods, and education for sustainable development. The company proposed to use digital tokens to incentivize agricultural sustainability and improve access to credit and capital for smallholder farmers.
Nature Services from Peru is a landscape management company that provides management consultancy and it proposed to structure socioeconomic incentives to recognize behaviors and actions in favor of biodiversity and avoid unwanted behaviors by integrating blockchain functionalities and interactions between actors in a digital platform.