INGENIEUR
How Blockchain Will Play
a Significant Role in the
Mitigation of Greenhouse
Gases
By Tan Lim Soon Fu
Chief Technology Officer
EPC Blockchain Sdn Bhd
I
n November 2017, 13 US Federal Agencies
concluded in a special report that human activity
is directly linked to the increase in the Earth’s
temperature and extreme weather events. This
presents a huge challenge to Governments and
businesses to reduce their energy consumption
and minimise their release of greenhouse gases,
while maintaining growth. One method economists
have come up with to limit unavoidable carbon
emissions is called Carbon Offsetting. Blockchain
technology is the perfect way to accelerate this
procedure, making it much more practical,
transparent and cost-effective.
Carbon Offsetting is the process of converting
emission reductions into tradable permits,
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allowing emissions to become commodities. These
permits can then be sold to other organisations,
businesses or even individuals, that are compelled
by legislation or just simply wish to ‘offset’ their
carbon dioxide emissions. In theory, one activity
offsets the other, but in practice it’s very hard to
guarantee that emissions are actually being cut
down. Therefore, better systems are needed to
avoid manipulation and fraud in recording energy
reduction and carbon footprints. And that’s where
blockchains come in handy.
Energy savings or generation of energy
through renewable means, abate climate change
through the reduction of CO 2 emissions. The use
of blockchain to track, monitor and record such