This week, we have curated a list of nine blockchain-driven projects from across the world, which are expected to aid improved sustainability performance1 of stakeholders that include corporations, impact investors and government agencies.
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Sustainable Finance
Enabling investors to fund carbon-reducing projects | Global
Project Description: The carbon credit marketplace is a great way to bridge the gap between companies that want to reduce their emissions and projects that showcase carbon removal/ absorption. However, the carbon credit marketplace has been highly illiquid due to the disbalance between carbon-reducing projects and funding opportunities for investors, as this friction discourages small and medium size projects to scale. To curtail this disbalance, EarthFund DAO (1Earth) is partnering with Carbon Removal DAO to enable users to fund carbon-neutral and carbon-negative initiatives across the globe. A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization, build on top of a blockchain network to improve governance and bring democracy in decision making. DAOs facilitate fast and unbiased decision-making driven by smart contracts that results in transparency for all stakeholders involved. The companies will also use blockchain for tokenizing carbon credits, made by the carbon-reducing projects and sell the same in the marketplace. 1Earth would be providing a low-fee crowdfunding marketplace for projects to sell their carbon tokens, under the name CarbonCommons. These tokens will then be purchased by the investors, and the funds will be directly sent to the carbon-reduction project. Blockchain would enable easy, inexpensive and secure transaction of carbon credits, to eliminate any fraudulent financial activity. CarbonCommons tokens can be exchanged for 1Earth, EarthFund's native utility and governance asset, to give the project-backers a deciding vote in the DAO’s governance. The aim of this project is to build an accessible and inclusive community where people can come together to support sustainable community-led carbon removal projects and bring about real change.
Expected Benefits:
Bridge the gap between impact/ responsible investors and eco-friendly projects, to decrease the financial friction in the carbon reduction market.
Enable small and medium size projects to raise funds at a cheaper cost than before.
A blockchain-backed security would enable easy tracking of fund-flow between investor and project developer, to eliminate illicit activities.
More Information: U Today
Biodiversity
Enabling financing for biodiversity projects | Switzerland
Project Description: Protected areas are vital to species seeking revival from near-endangered and endangered classification, and it is a key requirement for biodiversity and fight against climate change. However, these protected areas rely on government funds and external funding. Many good and successful projects are seeing a lack of external funding, which is hampering their daily operations. To enable the funding for these projects, Porini Foundation has created a NFT collection, called Nature Collectibles, in which users can choose a particular NFT to fund the respective project, associated with the NFT. The protected places are recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Green List program, ensuring that the funds are sent to a listed project. NFT is a non-fungible token, minted on a blockchain network, as it provides the uniqueness to the piece, immutability in the transactions and secure trading. These NFTs will act as a catalyst for projects to get funding. Blockchain helps to reduce the funding-related costs for the projects, while also eliminating any fraud. All the proceeds from the NFTs would be sent towards the betterment of the biodiversity projects. The NFT project will be migrated to a more energy efficient blockchain, Hedera Network. Hedera blockchain is a proof of stake blockchain network, that is energy efficient. This network consumes less energy than its counterpart, Ethereum, according to their website. The aim of this project aims to take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, by enabling financing.
Expected Benefits:
Enable more conservation-related financing in the biodiversity conservation ecosystem.
Enable the project-supporters to trade these on the secondary market, making this a liquid asset.
Encourage other biodiversity projects to raise funds via the NFT route, to help them save resources compared to traditional fund raising.
More Information: Digital Jorunal and Hedera Network
Promoting Paulownia trees through sustainable pods | Italy
Project Description: GHG emission is a major hindrance to achieving sustainability goals. Tree plantation or afforestation is one of the ways to counter the harmful impact of GHG emissions. However, capturing of carbon sequestration data is difficult and a tedious process. In addition to sharing that data in a secure format. To address these challenges, Giancarlo Zema Design Group has combined IoT sensors with blockchain technology. The company has created small houses or pods in the middle of a Paulownia Forest, to give users a divine and relaxing experience. The trees are connected to the IoT sensors so they can track how these trees, which can trap 50 tons of CO2 every year, have impacted the real world. The sensors send the data to machine-learning algorithms, arranged as digital avatars in blockchain, and then displayed in the pods, to share with the owners of the pods. Blockchain would enable easy, secure and transparent data sharing, to eliminate any third-party intrusion. The eco-sustainable pods are made from the Paulownia trees that surround it, which can absorb 10 times more CO2 than most other trees. The pods also have 25 square meters of solar panels so it is self-sustaining. Even the furnishings inside of the SEED Room is made from recycled cardboard from Origami Furniture. Each unit is 98% recyclable and has internal micro-ventilation and cooling systems. This means they are considered low-consumption residential habitats.
Expected Benefits:
Raise awareness about Paulownia trees that can sequester 10 time more carbon than other trees, among eco-tourists
All the data from the IoT, stored on blockchain would be verifiable and correct, eliminating the need for a third-party verification.
Improve the life span of the trees by real-time tracking.
This project could encourage other property developers to build self-sustainable homes.
More Information: Yanko Design
Recycling
Increasing the recycling rate in electronics industry | Europe
Project Description: Just 2% of today’s recycled plastic materials are used in electronics, compared to packaging industry (24%), building and construction industry (46%) and agriculture sector (13%). To increase the share of recycled plastic in the electronics ecosystem, European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA), has launched the INCREASE project, under Horizon Europe Cluster 4 program (EU’s funding initiative). The project is led by Fraunhofer IZM, a research firm, and other partners include Fraunhofer IZM, Vlaamse instelling voor technologisch onderzoek (VITO) (research firm), KU Leuven (university), Pezy Group (product design firm), Plastika Skaza (recycler) and Philips Electronics Nederland (OEM). The project partners will develop data-driven sorting solutions to prevent potentially hazardous substances to enter the recycled plastics system and combine complementary recycling technologies (mechanical, chemical and solvent based) to increase the overall recycling yield. The recycled plastic used in this project is sourced from electrical and electronic waste (WEEE). Recycled plastic in the supply chain of electronic manufacturers, will be traced via blockchain, which will mimic the movements of the recycled plastic in the supply chain, digitally, and share data with all the relevant stakeholders in real-time and immutable format.
Expected Benefits:
Increase the share of recycled plastic in the overall plastic economy.
Data generated on the platform shall facilitate data-driven policy making in EU to draft green legislations.
Digital sorting and collection of plastic at the exit point of supply chain would help companies increase their recycling rate, especially electronic manufacturers.
More Information: EE News
Achieving circular economy through blockchain | Saudi Arabia
Project Description: To curtail plastic pollution, some countries have banned the single use plastic in the past recent years, however, the efforts are not converting into desired results. According to UNEP, approximately seven billion of the 9.2 billion tons of plastic produced from 1950-2017 became plastic waste, ending up in landfills or dumped. This presents an urgent requirement for effective waste management measures. A sustainable approach would be to implement circular economy in the plastic ecosystem. To do the same, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) is partnering with Finboot, Plastic Energy and Intraplás. This project aims to implement blockchain solution for end-to-end tracking of consumer products, to convert them into circular feedstock. Finboot’s MARCO software solution will act as a middleware layer to track TACOIL produced by Plastic Energy from its recycling process. This oil will be delivered to SABIC for conversion into its Trucircle polymers and finally the delivery of the polymers would be made to Intraplás for conversion into its packaging solutions. All these processes’ data would be stored on the blockchain for easy tracking, in real-time. A digital version of the product would be made on the blockchain for replication the movement of the product, eliminating any fraudulent activity in the supply chain. This platform will reduce costs, time and improve data integration for value chain partners. Blockchain would also ensure that all data gathered remains immutable while shared across suppliers, customers and regulators, providing transparency, auditability and accountability in a complex industrial ecosystem.
Expected Benefits:
Blockchain reduces the administrative efforts associated with the certification process of materials and is also a more reliable process, due to the reduced risk of human error.
The blockchain-based traceability solution would enable companies to measure the recycled plastic in their supply chain, giving them accurate ESG accounting.
This project is paving way towards circular economy as it is helping companies to increase recycled plastic share in their supply chains.
More Information: Recycling Today and UNEP
Renewable Energy
Optimizing EV charging experience | Germany
Project Description: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are an important part of meeting the global goals on climate change. While the EV adoption continues to grow, their charging experience remains suboptimal. EV owners generally don’t have any control over the charging experience, like selecting the energy source for charging their car. In addition to this, due to the disbalance of charging stations and EV vehicles, the waiting time in a charging station can become quite long. To address this, Volkswagen is partnering with Energy Web to enable its EV owners to match their charging requirements with selected renewable options (clean energy). This will be done using a blockchain based ‘smart charging solution’. The solution utilizes a 24/7 matching algorithm offering user control and granularity on charging sessions, including selecting the date and time, the type of renewable energy and the specific facility it is drawn from. This solution has been tested with Volkswagen’s ID.4 (an EV SUV) in Wolfsburg, Germany. The charging sessions drew electricity from wind and solar energy, generated locally. This blockchain-based smart charging app was developed by integrating Energy Web’s blockchain solution with Elli’s (Volkswagen subsidiary) green charging app, which provides users with access to over 300,000 public charging points across Europe. Blockchain would be used to share the customer’s charging data with relevant stakeholders in this project, as it provides secure and immutable data sharing capability. This solution would allow the users full controllability over their charging experience.
Expected Benefits:
This project would enable corporate EV fleet operators/ owners to show proof of renewable energy purchases and enable tracking of granular energy usage for carbon accounting.
Dependence on electricity grid would be reduced.
This project would facilitate the growth of renewable energy in the overall energy mix.
More Information: Smart Energy
GHG Emissions
Creating ESG themed metaverse | Hong Kong
Project Description: Business as usual (BAU) activities for many companies tends to emit carbon, consume water, use land and so on, making massive environmental footprint for that company. A more sustainable way would be to digitize the BAU activities, to reduce their environmental footprint. Web3 provides an alternative way to conduct business activities. To promote this, Sandbox has developed an ESG focused metaverse named MetaGreen. At present, there are six uniquely interactive districts in this metaverse:
Regal green hotel and residence, which will promote sustainable proptech and financial inclusion by enabling users to buy NFTs, relative to units of a house.
MetaGreen Convention Centre, where ESG-related sustainability conferences will be hosted.
MetaGreen Mall, a sustainability-themed metaverse shopping mall that will cater to Hong Kong consumers who prefer virtual shopping over traditional physical malls.
Art Park, a green art gallery that will serve as a platform for both artistic innovation and sustainability awareness.
MetaGreen Academy, a metaverse-based secondary school green curriculum, developed in partnership with HKUST Business School as a non-profit initiative of Bodhi Love Foundation.
Virtual eco-travel, a metaverse biosphere that promotes biodiversity and online-to-offline eco-farming.
All these projects will be hosted on sandbox, a polygon-based metaverse ecosystem. MetaGreen has already purchased more than double the verified carbon credits necessary to reverse its limited sandbox emissions. HKUST, UOB and Hand Seng Bank (as a part of their carbon neutral pledge) would be financially backing this project.
Expected Benefits:
Enable companies to conduct their BAU activities in a more sustainable manner than before.
Promote sustainability themes to a wider audience, in an interactive, immersive and easy to understand manner.
All the carbon emitted by this project has already been taken care of, by buying carbon credits. This makes the project carbon neutral, having no carbon footprint on the environment.
More Information: Global Tender
Diversity & Inclusion
Funding diversity focused charities via NFTs | United States
Project Description: According to a report from Morning Consult, 62% of the cryptocurrencies are held by white male population, while only 8% are being held with Black/African American males. Considering that cryptos are the backbone of NFT ecosystem, timely steps need to be taken to promote diverse participation in web3 ecosystem. To resolve these challenges, Slick City is launching 4444 NFTs, led by Lea Lorraine, a fashion and media influencer. The NFT would be minted on Ehtereum blockchain, to provide its holders a unique piece of art, which is secure and immutable, so they can never lose this digital token. The NFT holders will be able to access a community where they can freely network with likeminded people, participate in discussions on gender and racial equality, LGBTQIA rights, mental health, environmental consciousness and other issues affecting the community. The project is intended to support charities that align with its core values of inclusivity, diversity, equality, and environmental consciousness. When the company will sell all the NFTs, a portion of the proceeds (10% of initial mint and 0.5% of secondary sales) will be donated to charities like Clean Air Task Force, Girls Not Brides, Planned Parenthood and National Center For Transgender Equality.
Expected Benefits:
The funds raised by charities through this initiative will allow them to take diversity and engagement initiatives in the larger society.
By creating a closed community, likeminded people can share their thought and opinions freely and in a democratized manner.
The holder of the digital NFT will be the sole registered owner of the associated physical collectible, along with the NFT.
The company would provide its users a sense of ownership, by issuing a NFT. This will act as a great marketing tool for the company.
More Information: PR Newswire
Good Health and Wellbeing (Medical Tourism)
Encouraging medical tourism through blockchain | Thailand
Project Description: Price of healthcare has been steadily increasing in the US and some Western European countries, as compared to developing countries like Thailand. This creates an opportunity for tourists to engage in healthcare services outside of their home countries. However, to carry hard copies of health records can be a challenging task, especially for a tourist. In addition to this, physical record keeping of health data can be a difficult task for hospitals, not to forget cross-border sharing of these records. To address these challenges, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) is spearheading the development of blockchain-based platform for tourists to upload, store and share their health records. Thailand can be an attractive tourist spot for many travelers because of its inexpensive healthcare system. This project is in line with the country’s effort to bring back tourism by promoting itself as medical tourism hub. The platform would enable tourists to access medical records on the go, share with any local doctor or keep these records for identification purposes. Blockchain-powered platform will allow doctors to create profiles of international patients without the help of major hospitals. Medical tourists can use this platform to consult doctors directly. All the medical records stored in the platform would be secure and immutable, eliminating any third-party intrusion. These channels can be used in the future to collect centralized data on each patient’s treatment in the past, present, and future.
Expected Benefits:
This project will help boost Thailand’s tourism, which is crucial especially after the pandemic.
The platform could be used by a group of hospitals to seamlessly share medical records, in an immutable manner.
More Information: LaingBuisson
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