This week, we list 13 blockchain-driven projects from across the world, where the use of blockchain technology is expected to drive improved ESG/ SDG performance1.
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Renewable Energy
Incentivizing consumers for rooftop solar | UK
Project Description: As fuel and energy prices are increasing throughout the world, people are turning their attention to rooftop solar as a way to save money on their electricity bills and earn a little extra for the energy they don’t use by feeding it into the grid. However, consumers are skeptical of installing rooftop solar due to the high upfront cost. Rowan Energy is leveraging blockchain technology and using a low-powered device that is a smart meter that counts the total energy produced by the roof and incentivizes the customer for every unit of electricity that is produced but not sent to the grid. This incentive comes in the form of tokens worth 10p of its native blockchain for every kWh of energy that is produced and not sent to the grid. This mechanism can drive a behavioral change in consumers either increasing their solar capacity to match their demand or reducing their energy consumption according to the solar energy that their roof is producing. The blockchain keeps a transparent record of energy produced by the roof and not fed into the grid. The device also validates transactions on the Rowan Energy blockchain. All this data is stored on the blockchain as it provides security and immutability to the said data, eliminating any foreign intrusion and illicit activity. According to Rowan Blockchain’s website, the network uses a low carbon proof-of-authority consensus mechanism, which consumes less energy compared to other blockchain consensus mechanisms like proof-of-stake and proof-of-work. This device can also act like a cryptocurrency mining rig by using the excess solar energy, for which the consumer can reap benefits.
Expected Benefits:
Encourages generate more solar energy to meet their energy requirement, and not depend on grid
This project would help in curtailing the prices of electricity to a certain extent in the long run, as the demand scenario changes
This project will eradicate greenwashing, as the provenance of the electricity generated is verified.
More Information: TechBullion and Rowan Blockchain
Tracing the provenance of renewable energy | Netherlands
Project Description: Electricity plays a vital role in most companies’ BAU operations, meaning sustainable procurement of electricity could reap long-term benefits. Some companies are transitioning into renewable energy by partnering with grid operators. However, even though these companies enter into yearly 'Guarantees of purchase' agreements with the grid and align their sustainability goals accordingly, the ability of the grid to deliver 100% renewable energy throughout the year remains questionable. In addition to this, the company does not have full control over its electricity usage data. To address these challenges, Altenex Energy has partnered with FlexiDAO, to give corporates full insight into their renewable energy procurement and overall energy usage. FlexiDAO's software helps companies reach net zero emissions by tracing where their electricity comes from and its true CO2, every hour of the day. FlexiDAO will collect data from consumers, utilities, and grid operators in order to enable an analysis of electricity demand and supply on an hourly basis. Altenex then uses this data to identify gaps in carbon-free energy supply and find solutions to avoid the use of fossil fuels. Due to smart contacts, the supply of electricity would be automated, eliminating any data manipulation and illicit activity.
Expected Benefits:
Enable companies to track the provenance of the renewable energy they are using.
Increase the share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix.
Enable companies to reduce their carbon emissions by procuring carbon-free energy.
Encourage companies to save energy by giving them insights into their energy consumption patterns
More Information: Smart Energy
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Recycling
Funding plastic-management initiatives through blockchain | India
Project Description: The growing population is driving the global plastic waste, which is growing at a fast pace. According to National Geographic, 50% of all the plastic ever manufactured, has been made in the last 15 years. More so, nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been negatively affected by plastic. This creates an opportunity for companies that produce excess plastic waste to offset their wastage, by funding plastic recycling/waste management companies. To create a trustworthy channel, Business Wire India and EcoEX are partnering with TRST01 to create Plastic Credits on a blockchain network. A plastic Credit Certificate is a bonafide set of documents (proof of project execution) that authenticates a PIBO’s (Producers, Importers, Brand Owners) conformity with the recycling standards set under the respective country’s law. Blockchain will enable complete traceability of recycled material and identify the recycler, ensuring transparency in the documentation process. All the data related to the recycling process and plastic credits would be stored on the blockchain network, to eliminate any fraudulent activity. This will also eliminate the cumbersome paper-based process with a digital application on a blockchain-enabled QR system and provide complete data integrity.
Expected Benefits:
Blockchain would eliminate the problem of double counting/claiming in plastic credits.
This project will create a bridge between the current funding gap between companies and waste management/recycling initiatives.
Blockchain-based plastic credits would be verified and authenticated.
More Information: Financial Express and National Geographic
Facilitating blockchain-powered plastic credits | Singapore
Project Description: Plastic waste is harmful to the environment, as it takes 100s of years to biodegrade, which can compound over time at the current pace of waste generated. To counter this, a sustainable way is to offset the company’s plastic footprint by purchasing plastic credits. However, lack of trust, verifiability, and high operational costs discourage companies to buy these credits. To address the problems mentioned above, PCX Markets have launched a blockchain-based plastic credit marketplace. PCX Markets integrates blockchain-verified and tokenized plastic credit transactions with reporting on the efficacy of given projects. Companies then purchase credits to offset both their essential plastic use and their historic plastic footprints. Due to being tokenized on a blockchain network, all the plastic credits are authenticated, avoiding any double counting or greenwashing, and the operation overheads of a plastic credit would be minimized. All this data, including the financial transactions, is also recorded on the blockchain network to avoid any data manipulation and fraudulent activity, as it facilitates secure and immutable record keeping. PCX Markets is collaborating with some community-based projects. In addition to this, the platform also provides access to a plastic footprint calculator, enabling companies to understand their plastic footprint. The blockchain-based plastic credits projects will be verified against PCX Solutions' Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard (PPRS) and Verra's Plastic Waste Reduction Standard (PWRS).
Expected Benefits:
Encourage companies to meet their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance and achieve voluntary Net Zero Plastic Waste certification.
By calculating their plastic footprint, companies can implement data-driven policies and initiatives to reduce their plastic consumption.
Plastic credits will create liquidity in the recycling ecosystem, driving innovation and low-cost waste management solutions.
More Information: PR Newswire
Incentivizing local communities to collect plastic waste | United States
Project Description: Plastic waste or debris is very harmful to the environment, especially to the marine ecosystem. According to National Geographic, nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been negatively affected by plastic. Nearly every species of seabird eats plastic. This signifies a greater demand for companies that uses plastic to reduce their plastic consumption or offset their plastic waste. A sustainable way would be to mobilize local communities and incentivize them for their efforts. To do so, SNOW Cosmetics is partnering with Plastic Bank to offset their company’s and employee’ plastic usage. Plastic bank incentivizes local communities to collect plastic waste from the ocean. The reward would be given via tokens minted on a blockchain network. Blockchain would record all the financial transactions between the collection center and the waste picker. This project is in line with the company’s other initiatives like an Eco-friendly product line, and carbon and plastic neutrality, by the year 2025.
Expected Benefits:
Prevent the equivalent of over one million plastic bottles from entering the ocean.
The local communities would have an additional source of income, empowering them financially.
This collaboration would encourage other companies that consume or produce plastic, to offset their plastic disposal.
More Information: Dentistry Today and National Geographic
Ensuring income generation of waste pickers through blockchain | India
Project Description: Reusing and recycling plastic is a sustainable and feasible way to use plastic. To collect waste plastic, local communities can be mobilized and incentivized for their efforts. Such initiatives can also provide additional economic support to the needy people in these communities. However, managing waste pickers’ data, and ensuring their timely wages becomes a challenge. This also creates a gap between recyclers and companies that want their services. To address this, Cercle X is leveraging blockchain technology to bridge the gap between recyclers and companies. The companies enable waste pickers to collect pre-and post-consumer waste, by sharing with them the company’s waste data. According to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy in India, companies must take back their waste produced to a certain extent. Cercle X collects waste from companies and markets and sends them to recycling facilities, enabling the companies to track their waste in real-time, using blockchain. All the data is deployed on the blockchain for an easy, secure, and immutable data sharing and record-keeping experience. This will prevent any intrusion in the waste supply chain, ensuring trust and transparency among the relevant stakeholders.
Expected Benefits:
Connect the network of recyclers with the companies, to engage them in the circular economy.
Enable fair and equal wages to ragpickers and waste pickers, throughout the value supply chain.
More Information: The Better India and Cercle X
Responsible Supply Chain
Sorting plastic waste through blockchain | Europe
Project Description: Closed or circular economy is a great way to use existing resources to produce or manufacture goods, thus reducing dependence on external resources. However, in order to implement a circular economy, companies must distinguish between recyclable (plastics) and non-recyclable waste, and the current sorting and identification system is labor-intensive and time-consuming. To address and eventually solve this challenge, PepsiCo Labs is partnering with Security Matters to implement blockchain in their Identification, sorting, and packing of waste materials, in Europe. PepsiCo will use Security Matters’ invisible marker system in waste sorting to track closed loop recycling and verify sustainability claims. The company has developed a blockchain-powered recycling conveyor that identifies plastics during the recycling process using its chemical marker. The marker allows a digital twin to be stored on a blockchain network, which enables product identification and traceability. In the blockchain, the digital twin would mimic the product’s movement in the supply chain, giving the company real-time access to its product’s location. This data would be stored on the blockchain, to provide a secure and immutable record-keeping capability, eliminating any data manipulation and fraudulent activity.
Expected Benefits:
Enable PepsiCo Europe to fulfill its sustainability claims, improving its public image.
Blockchain would eliminate any intermediaries in sorting and packing wastage operations.
Encourage other companies to implement blockchain in their waste management initiatives, paving way for a circular economy.
More Information: Ledger Insights
Blockchain accelerating circular economy | Italy
Project Description: Circular economy is a model of production and consumption involving reusing and recycling the existing product in any supply chain. This model reduces the pressure on the environment, improves the security of raw materials, and reduces wastage. However, tracking products throughout the supply chain remains a persistent challenge for companies. To resolve this, RE49 is using blockchain technology to track and trace its shoe supply chain. All the product-related data, including leather procurement, quality, provenance, manufacturing process, and so on, would be deployed on the blockchain network. Blockchain would enable the company to track its supply chain in real-time, eliminating any exit points and having better control. This would also allow the company to share the data in a secure and immutable format, eliminating any third-party intrusion. A microchip in the shoe tongue of RE49's models will provide detailed information about the manufacturing process and material, enabling consumers to see the sustainability story of the company. The company uses waste material as its raw material for inserts, laces, soles, labels, and packaging. In addition to this, all the product of RE49 is PETA-approved, meaning they have used vegan and cruelty-free leather. This project is in line with the company’s commitment to a zero-carbon footprint in less than 5 years, and the current production method is 100% carbon neutral.
Expected Benefits:
A transparent supply chain would allow to company to implement sustainability initiatives in a more efficient manner.
Validate the company’s sustainability claims and help them pave the way toward a circular economy.
The company will be able to command a higher premium on their product, which the consumer would be willing to pay.
More Information: Fashion United
Livestock waste management on blockchain | United States
Project Description: Due to the innovation in livestock farming methods, Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) have been the industry norm, due to their feasibility and convenience to farmers. However, these consolidated farms produce a lot of waste, which would eventually end up in landfills and oceans. This presents an opportunity for companies to implement transparent and efficient waste management initiatives, that can turn this waste into farmer’s resources. To address this challenge, Ribbonwire Ranch is partnering with Bion Environmental Technologies to implement a blockchain-based waste management solution into their new facility in Texas. The project would be catering to 60,000 cattle, or annual production of 180,000 cattle, including innovative barn systems and anaerobic digesters. This blockchain-based solution will convert the waste into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), organic fertilizers, and clean water, by using Bion’s patented technology. This would prevent the waste to be discharged into landfills and ocean bodies. All this data would be stored on the blockchain or an easy, secure, and immutable data sharing among relevant stakeholders, eliminating any third-party intrusion. Blockchain would also allow the company to access real-time information on cattle waste. The revenues generated from these new product lines will transform a cattle feeder from a marginally profitable business into a lucrative one.
Expected Benefits:
Enable companies to access their environmental data, and implement strategies to mitigate their environmental footprint.
The company would be able to command a higher premium, for its products.
Turning waste into resourceful products would encourage other companies and ranches to implement Bion’s technology in their waste management practices.
More Information: Guru Focus
GHG Emissions
Bunker bio-fuel tracing on blockchain | Global
Project Description: Transportation, Logistics, and Cargo industry is a fuel-intensive industry, consuming a lot of fuel for its day-to-day operations. According to Transport Geography, a containership of around 8000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent) would consume about 225 tons of bunker fuel per day, therefore, a minute change in this industry could lead to a massive positive impact on the environment. To encourage the use of biofuels, a consortium of 18 companies led by The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) is partnering with BunkerTrace to leverage blockchain for tracking marine fuels from production to vessel propulsion. The pilot aims to validate the authenticity of sustainable biofuels through molecular verification tests (DNA Testing) conducted on fuel samples that are collected at numerous identified points along the supply chain. Piloting will start with fuel blends involving existing biofuels, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blended with either very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO), or marine gas oil (MGO) in blends up to 30% biofuels (B30). This testing could be used to ensure traceability of drop-in biofuels, such as bio-LNG, bio-methanol, and green ammonia when they become available in meaningful quantities, from production, distribution, transportation, storage, and bunkering to shipboard application, providing end-to-end supply chain transparency. All the data procured during the testing would be deployed in the blockchain network, to ensure secure and immutable data transferability among the relevant stakeholders.
Expected Benefits:
Lower the barrier to biofuel’s wider adoption, which will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a lifecycle perspective.
A transparent biofuel supply chain would enable the company to trace every exit point, implementing a data-driven strategy.
More Information: Smart Maritime Network and Transport Geography
Verifying carbon sequestration on blockchain | Global
Project Description: Reforestation is a great and successful way to sequester carbon. In addition to this, carbon credits can play a vital role to cover the day-to-day operations of maintaining a forest and bridging the financial gap. However, the accurate measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of the sequestered carbon remains a challenge for landowners, in addition to the threat of greenwashing, which is discouraging many landowners to pursue reforestation initiatives. To address this challenge, Open Forest Protocol has developed a web-based application that will accurately measure and verify the carbon sequestration limit of their land, so that they recoup results-based payments, via carbon credits. In order to do so, they have partnered with NEAR blockchain, for a secure, verifiable, and immutable data sharing experience. This data would be made public in real-time, ensuring no data manipulation or greenwashing can be made. The carbon credit would be minted on the blockchain network for a secure and immutable trading experience. OFP chose NEAR blockchain because it claims that the network generates 174 tonnes of CO2 every year, which is 200,000 times more carbon efficient than bitcoin, by using the Proof of stake (p-o-s) mechanism over the Proof of work (p-o-w), according to their website.
Expected Benefits:
Open direct access to support and funding of reforestation initiatives, attracting carbon financing.
Ensure that only verifiable and accurate carbon credits would be made available in the market.
Eliminate greenwashing, which would encourage small carbon-reduction projects to raise capital.
More Information: Fintech Finance World and NEAR
Biodiversity
Funding biodiversity projects through NFT | South Africa
Project Description: Biodiversity is a crucial element of our environment and it is our responsibility to protect them. According to the IUCN Red List, African Black Rhinos along with African Forest Elephants have been listed as Critically Endangered (CR). To encourage the conservation of these species, many initiatives have been created. However, these initiatives require external financing or funding to operate, and high transactional costs and profit-hungry intermediaries discourage projects to raise funds. To address this challenge, Wild Funds Tomorrow, an NPO focusing on biodiversity conservation of South African elephants, rhinos, and lions, has partnered with WildCards to enable project financing through NFTs. Since 2017, the organization has been trying to raise funds to purchase land, remove fencing, and clear vegetation for two protected areas, the MunYaWana Conservancy and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, allowing species to move freely between the landscapes. To finance and raise funds, WildCards minted NFTs on the blockchain network, selling them and directing the funds to the foundation. These NFTS can be bought and sold using ether (Ethereum). The owner of each card acts as a guardian to the animal, paying a predetermined amount every month to the conservation agency protecting the animal or the species represented in the card. All the data related to the NFT (financial records) would be stored on the blockchain network, to eliminate any data manipulation and fraudulent activity. In projects like these, NFTs play a role to bridge the funding gap between donors and Eco-friendly initiatives throughout the world.
Expected Benefits:
Of the $1.5 million collected so far, $30,000 was raised by WildCards, through NFTs.
Blockchain will make biodiversity efficient by eliminating profit-hungry intermediaries.
More Information: Mongabay and IUCN
Sustainable Financing
Funding environmental initiatives via blockchain | Monaco
Project Description: Environmental initiatives need financing to cover their recurring overheads. The inability of procuring financing creates a funding gap that challenges the initiation and scaling of environmental initiatives. Lack of trust, high transactional costs, and lack of access to genuine projects discourage investors, donors, and philanthropists to finance these initiatives. To address this challenge, The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2) has partnered with DigitalBits Blockchain to create a blockchain-based application that will enable benefactors to finance various trust-worthy charities via cryptocurrencies and NFTs, some of which include ocean conservation initiatives, the protection of emblematic species and the promotion of sustainable development. Throughout the year, events would be organized by the foundation, and in each event, donors would get a chance to purchase the said NFTs or donate via cryptocurrency, both of which would be minted on the DigitalBits blockchain. This would provide the required transparency, security, and trust in the charities, in addition to immutable financial record keeping, eliminating fraud or any illicit activity. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs would eliminate any hidden or transactional charge, especially if the payments are been made from different countries.
Expected Benefits:
Eliminate the lack of trust, encouraging a greater number of benefactors to participate.
Cryptocurrencies would enable micropayment donations, which would cater to a bigger market.
More Information: PR Newswire
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