About us
Cryptocurrency is a novel piece of technology that has revolutionised finance and other fields in ways people could not imagine. However, this does not come without its drawbacks: the environmental impact of maintaining and operating blockchain technologies cannot be overlooked, with the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin contributing around 0.5% of all global electricity consumption. Despite its utility, this has raised very valid concerns for a lot of people who consider the environmental impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies to be detrimental, preventing wider adoption of cryptocurrency by a lot of people. We set out to solve this problem by helping individuals be more conscious about their cryptocurrency usage.
Our vision
Being strong believers of crypto, we trust that the benefits this new technology brings are immense and cannot be overlooked. However, we also recognize the validity and urgency of the environmental concerns regarding the usage of the technology, and therefore we attempt to bridge that gap by helping our users be more conscious of their environmental impact, while also helping them offset the estimated greenhouse emissions of their crypto portfolio by various actions such as donations to environmental causes.
Our methodology
Firstly, we set out to estimate the net greenhouse emissions of a particular crypto portfolio, adapting the methodology presented in Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) and extending it to some of the top cryptocurrency tokens. A brief overview of our methodology is presented below: INPUTS:
- Hashrate (TH/s)
- Block rate (s)
- Block reward (in crypto value)
- Price ($)
- Electricity price ($ per kWh)
- List of miner efficiencies
We start with some set of miners, with some efficiencies in J/GH We then work out the least efficient a miner could profitably be while still making a profit mining the coin This gives some upper threshold on the J/GH value of each miner We then take the set of all profitable miners and take their average efficiency We then work out how many joules of energy the total crypto consumes per year by multiplying hashrate * average efficiency * # seconds in a year This quantity can then be translated into tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere each year per coin We then calculate what fraction of the total market cap of the coin the user owns, and assume that they are responsible for this proportion of the carbon emissions of the coin.
Note our methodology is only applicable to coins that operate using proof-of-work protocols. Other coins such as Cardano and Solana using alternative protocols (e.g. proof of stake) are also included but we must note their energy consumption is negligible.
Carbon-neutral portfolio
There is no denying that crypto portfolios have significant environmental impact, with a large portfolio of about $10000 having a carbon footprint equivalent to that of a single-person UK household over a year. We believe it is vital that users are as conscious as possible about their choices of investment, and therefore we decided to initially provide with a wide range of comparisons between the carbon footprint of the user’s portfolio to some more accessible yet sometimes surprising metrics, like the number of flights from London to New York your footprint corresponds to. However, in order to make the technology viable in the future, consciousness does not suffice; we need to take action, and that is exactly what we prompt our users to do through strategic and effective planning.
With a wide array of organisations working on ways to offset/reduce carbon emissions, we did a deep dive into ways in which an individual can offset part of their carbon footprint through donations and different actions. We identified a few charities that are doing sublime work in working towards a carbon-neutral future, some of which are presented below. It was very important to us that we are as accurate and transparent as possible with our users, so we did limit our selection to institutions that are well-established and thoroughly checked, while we also strived to effectively quantify the impact of donations to certain organisations such that we can accurately guide our users as to the size of their contributions. Overall, our focal points were carbon removal and offset projects, as well as policy projects that advocate for appropriate representation in the government. Through careful planning, we identify effective and transparent projects and prompt the user to try and offset their environmental impact.
Future work
We plan to make further coins available, as well as make more extensive research and collaboration with organisations to facilitate the donation process. Moreover, we plan to add crypto portfolio integration so that it automatically connects to the user's crypto wallet. Other extensions will possibly include other blockchain-based technology, such as NFTs. Furthermore, we can act in a more consulting role, where we will advise the user on whether certain investments are profitable or not depending on the estimated carbon footprint.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.