Hyderabad startup TRST01 handles climate action through blockchain technology

In the fight to combat the climate crisis, many countries have promised to become carbon neutral. But that’s easier said than done. One of the biggest concerns is to implement green initiatives and at the same time maintain the necessary agricultural and industrial production.

Numerous companies – Citi and IBM, among others – believe carbon offsets and trade can offer a solution where companies eliminate their CO2 emissions by investing in carbon dioxide projects or trying to remove carbon dioxide by planting trees and preserving the forest that creates compensation or credits.

These savings – or credits – can then be purchased by another person or company, giving them the right to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions. Each credit corresponds to one tonne of carbon.

But the existing carbon market is perceived as opaque, disorganized and exclusive to large corporations, making it challenging for farmers, rural communities and other people from lower socio-economic levels to engage in this trade.

Since the market for carbon credits is so poorly regulated, retailers can also make dubious claims about carbon offsets without implementation. But the global carbon offsets market is showing no signs of slowing, and is estimated to be worth it $ 35 billion by 2030.

Numerous blockchain startups have entered the room, looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions through NFTs. Polygon recently partnered with Klima DAO, which offers tokenized carbon credits. Other popular startups FlowCarbon, Moss and Offsetra also created a buzz around the same.

Closer to home, Web3 enthusiasts and investment bankers Prabir Mishra, Suraj Teja and Puru Modani wanted to address the lack of transparency in the carbon trading market while democratizing access.

The trio launched TrayamBhu Tech Solutions (TRST01) in 2019, a blockchain platform that digitizes carbon credits to make the market more accessible to all.

In conversation with Decryption historysays Prabir, “With blockchain technology, all data on the chain is traceable and transparent, and we believe this can play a significant role in the solution of climate action and agriculture.”

The start-up, however, began with addressing food traceability using blockchain. “We tried to solve the problem by tracking the product’s location and the date and time of the process through geo-fencing and geo-location. The certificates issued for these products are uploaded to the blockchain with built-in QR codes, and anyone can track the products. Then we decided to focus on climate and agricultural projects, he adds.

Climate action through NFT tokens

TRST01’s three principles are trust, openness and traceability. In April, TRST01 launched Bhu, a carbon-offset NFT token, and Arka, a solar-offset NFT token. The start-up has also been linked to RubiX, a green blockchain protocol, as a technology partner for the same.

“In an effort to raise public awareness of the climate crisis, we enable the common man to buy and compensate and contribute to climate action,” says Prabir.

The NFT tokens are currently available in several marketplaces, including OpenSea and Rarible, and will be available on JupiterMeta in the future.

“We do not interact directly with farmers or communities. Instead, we connect to project developers and aggregators, who work across a wide range of projects involving solar energy, hydropower, methane gas reduction and others. After the projects are completed, carbon credits are produced,” and farmers, rural women, residents or small communities that the developer worked with get the benefits, “he claims.

One of the initiatives the startup worked on is a solar energy project in Himachal Pradesh. It was linked to the developer of three photovoltaic plants – Dhar, Bhandari Ram and Sankhyan – which replaced conventional fossil fuel-based plants in the area, generating 1.5 MW of clean and renewable energy.

The carbon credits from the solar project were digitized into NFTs and sold for $ 10 per credit on NFT marketplaces. The income generated will be distributed to villagers and women the project developer worked with. The startup has sold 500 NFTs to date.

The founder claims that climate projects work not only to address global problems, but also to improve living standards. “Most of our projects have generated monetary income for the farmers. For example, our partner project developers track around 40,000 hectares of forest and aim to reduce methane gas. Each hectare can generate 3-5 carbon credits. The total can go up to 100,000-200,000 carbon credits. Farmers will receive around Rs 1500-2000 per acre. Carbon credits generated from the reduction of methane gas are being digitized as Bhu NFT tokens. ”

The start-up currently has a team of 35 members.

BaaS

The startup follows the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) model, which allows buyers to build applications and digital services on a distributed network while delivering the infrastructure and blockchain building tools. Their customers include companies, governments and other organizations that build green projects.

It had a total turnover of Rs 50 lakh in the last year.

“In the first project, we provided a blockchain solution for PDS (public distribution system) traceability to the government of Orissa, and we were paid Rs 5 lakh for it. It was implemented through CSM Technologies, Bhubaneswar,” says Prabir.

In the future, the start-up aims to expand its operations in the United States. “We are currently working on 8-10 projects and have over 15 customers on board,” says Prabir.

The start-up is also in talks about working on several government projects. The co-founder says: “We are discussing with the Himachal Pradesh state government to collaborate on a climate project and are also cooperating with the Haryana state government on food tracking through STPI (Software Technology Parks in India).”

TRST01 also aims to collaborate with such as Coromandel Agrico Group and Green Irrigation, among other things for its agricultural and seed tracking projects.

In February, the Hyderabad-based startup raised Rs 4.2 crore in a seed round led by US-based Octave Ventures.