Saving the planet could be blockchain's killer app
Blockchain Technology
Modified Date:- Published Date:-Categories: Cryptocurrency Blockchain
Saving the planet could be blockchain's killer app
in December “the sustainable industrial revolution is just getting started,” and even heavy industries like shipping, steel, and plastics are beginning to grasp the importance of an ecologically sustainable future — developing products like “green steel,” which is a fossil-free steelmaking process.
But hurdles remain, including questions about transparency, accountability, traceability, trust, data integrity, and even greenwashing (making false or insincere environmental claims.) Or as the Times asked: “Can some of history’s highest-polluting industries be trusted?” in spite of their professed good intentions.
This is where blockchain technology could make a difference. Like the sustainability movement itself, blockchain tech is global, 21st century, and mostly unformed though likely to be shaped soon by new laws and rules. Blockchains can simplify and lower costs of ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting, build trust in “collected” data, develop new eco-related trading markets, and suggest new sources of innovation.
But if this promise of a blockchain/ESG alliance is to reach fruition, some questions need to be resolved, including:
- Are public permissionless blockchains sufficiently scalable to handle the sheer amount of data to be tracked for sustainability use cases?
- Looking off-chain, do blockchain-based sustainability-related projects face an oracle problem?
- Who is going to attest, for example, that carbon offset credits entered on the blockchain are legitimate — and that they are really doing something beneficial for the environment?
- Finally, blockchain technology might be a useful tool in the quest to develop a global sustainable future, but is it a necessary one?
- Does the sustainability movement really need public blockchains to succeed?
Blockchain Technology, Sustainable Movement, Sustainable Future, Heavy Industries