Sustainable societies assume natural resources are finite and aim to practice environmental protection that promotes balance between humans and nature.
By Edward Neilson, CEO of Megatech,
Adapting sustainability measures can save money in addition to environmental impacts. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the globe can save $120-billion yearly if people switch to energy-efficient light bulbs.
Many hope that emphasising sustainable energy sources can improve the quality of life in nations that struggle with access to consistent electricity. For instance, South Africa has long dealt with power cuts despite relying on coal for most of its national energy production.
However, government leaders have established a landmark Climate Commission and made a deal at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to receive $8,5-billion in grants and loans to phase out coal mining and build more dependable renewable energy sources.
Focusing on sustainability, which helps meet present needs without compromising the future, can help governments and businesses save money and open up opportunities for greener and more reliable energy solutions.
How Web3 helps promote sustainability
Web 3.0 is heralded as a powerful tool that nations and global leadership could harness to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable practices.
This new Internet iteration is decentralised, based on public blockchains, and empowers users themselves to own and govern sections of the web without mediation by a centralized authority.
As a result, Web 3.0-powered applications enable greater efficiencies when collecting and reporting data related to climate change and climate finance. It’s also possible for blockchain’s immutability, transparency, and cost-efficiency to help scale up carbon markets and promote liquidity.
Carbon markets proved to be a critical solution to climate change. More than 2/3rds of nations are planning to rely on them to meet their commitments as part of the Paris Agreement that orchestrated national compliance towards climate-based goals.
Previously, the carbon credits trading market operated voluntarily. Private financing would flow towards eco-focused projects that government leaders and legislators might otherwise have ignored. However, the World Bank notes the private sector has long dominated these markets.
As countries emphasise sustainability as part of policy agendas, effective Carbon markets must help mobilize resources and mitigate costs to aid nations and businesses in smoothing out transitions to low-carbon.
Web 3.0 architecture, like blockchain technology, can lower transaction costs associated with the measurement, reporting, and verification of carbon projects to speed up credit issuance, according to Climate Impact Partners.
Similarly, tokenised carbon credits are also seen as a way to help trade occur more efficiently across OTC marketplaces, auctions, and exchanges to improve participation in global carbon markets and allow nations to cooperate better to meet climate goals.
Carbon footprint offsetting is a focus of several pioneering Web 3 and blockchain-based projects like Megatech.
Megatech’s Focus On Blockchain-Based Sustainability
Empowering users to earn crypto by using sustainable energy solutions, Megatech works on a 60MW solar farm with state-of-the-art storage technology where battery configuration is customized based on modules according to performance requirements.
Manufactured by Nidtec Technology Solutions, the energy storage solution allows green energy sales at peak rates to blue-chip listed entities.
The ‘Beta’ solar farm will produce clean energy and generate about 180,000 carbon credits that will eventually be traded to open up financial returns to native MGT token holders. Megatech initially acquired the Beta green renewable energy and storage project in March 2022 with a $113-million valuation.
Released in 2021, the Binance Smart Chain-based MGT token distributes 40% of net profit from carbon credit and energy sales to staking pools that pay out rewards to token holders.
Notably, the project has been signed off on by South Africa’s national energy supplier, Eskom. Eskom has suffered to sustain the African nation’s energy needs as its fleet of old coal-fired plants regularly breaks and runs into operating issues.
The power utility has made notable efforts towards pursuing a green energy transition, having agreed with four renewable power producers in October to help bring more renewable energy to the national power grid.
By transparently helping track energy usage, promoting tokenised rewards, and decreasing fraud and manipulation with energy grid and compliance reporting, blockchain technology remains one of the most powerful tools in helping promote a sustainable future.
As the Web 3.0 world accelerates, blockchain’s role in the worldwide fight against climate change and clean energy generation will only increase.