Evercity platform presents three use cases on Industry 4.0 tech for climate
At the press-conference of Climate Chain Coalition at COP25, Evercity platform for impact measurement, management and investment presented three new cases: issuance of digital passports of farmers’ produce in New Zealand, blockchain-based carbon market simulation game in Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan and issuance of renewable energy certificates from a small-scale solar power plant in rural Chile
Measurement of environmental impact and issuance of blockchain-based passports of farmers’ produce in New Zealand
Successful management of modern farms requires precise and transparent measurement of their short- and long-term environmental impact, as well as incentives for sustainable practices. Our solution allows to automate measurement and analysis of farms’ environmental footprint, as well as create farms’ digital passports to reward sustainable behaviour.
Data on the farms’ land use, resulting water and soil pollution as well as carbon footprint is collected with satellites, UAV and IoT devices and recorded into an immutable blockchain database. The information can be accessed by councils, insurers, service providers, and other stakeholders, allowing farms to automate environmental impact disclosure and certification on sustainability.
Pilot project engaged two farms in New Zealand, 222.8 hectare DJ McCartin Farm and 751.6 hectare Andrew Totman Farm, and took part in Airbus NZ Aerospace Challenge Incubator Program.
Blockchain-powered carbon market simulation for reducing GHG emissions
Blockchain-powered carbon trading simulation game aims at raising environmental awareness of students and promoting energy saving behaviour. Pilot project was carried out at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. The game includes three main components:
- Competition between students or campuses aimed at reducing CO2 emissions of the University
- Education on climate action
- Simulation of a national carbon cap-and-trade system at University level
Participating students are encouraged to perform energy-efficient behaviour and compete in reducing energy consumption. To offset their carbon footprint students can also plant trees or purchase carbon credits issued by the University on the basis of its renewable energy generation using IoT and blockchain.
The next step will be the launch of University-wide carbon marketplace. Participants will be able to exchange digital tokens representing carbon credits and get financial reward for saving energy and reduce CO2 emissions. A specific price will be assigned for each ton of CO2, allowing participants to exchange extra carbon credits for real money. We invite more universities to join the initiative in 2020.
Blockchain and IoT-based issuance of renewable energy certificates in rural Chile
One of the ways to accelerate deployment of small scale renewable energy is adoption of financial tools, such as renewable energy certificates (RECs) which can be purchased by the government and multinational corporations aiming for transition to renewable energy. However, issuance of REC’s for such projects face many challenges, such as tracking & verification of renewable electricity generation, as well as transparency of their trade and prevention of double accounting.
Blockchain solves the problem of trust between parties, allowing to record reliable & precise data on clean energy production from sensors into an immutable database. This provides greater transparency, reduces human errors and the risk of data manipulation as well as double spending of REC’s. This also simplifies the whole process for both energy producers and REC buyers, providing them with an easy-to-use infrastructure for green finance issuance and purchase.
Pilot IoT and blockchain-based issuance of renewable energy certificates from a solar power plant in Chile was carried out with a local partner EnorChile S. A. on a small-scale 60 kW concentrated photovoltaic power plant Cazadores located in a rural area near the city of Iquique. Allowing to issue RECs at a very low cost, blockchain and IoT became the best available solution for such a small-scale power plant. We plan to develop and scale this case further in 2020 with our international partners.
