NORTHAMPTON, MASS / ACCESSWIRE / October 3, 2022 / Land Betterment Corporation
To the average person, green crypto seems like an oxymoron, right?
As an environmental action company that puts carbon offsets on the blockchain, we’re used to people looking at us a little sideways when we tell them that’s exactly what we want to be, a green blockchain with a purpose.
But that’s exactly what we’ve tried to create at the Land Betterment Exchange (LBX), by tokenizing carbon offset credits earned through land remediation and restoration of impacted land abandoned by fossil fuel companies.
We found our purpose and, in the process, created a win-win scenario for all actors involved, including environmental specialists, companies looking to meet carbon pledges, local displaced workers and, of course, the environment itself.
However, we don’t fool ourselves into thinking we’re the only targeted blockchain out there. We don’t want to be anyway – when you’re trying to fix the world, you want as much company as possible.
So below, we’re going to call out five of our favorite green blockchain solutions that are all trying, in their own way, to make the world a little better.
1. Hedera
Hedera relies on its revolutionary hashgraph consensus mechanism (to deliver faster and cheaper transactions at a fraction of the energy cost typical of blockchain.
Built around two key innovations – which they call “gossip about gossip” and the “virtual voting” hashgraph, Hedera allows Hedera to offer a fast, fair, stable and secure platform that consumes an average of 0.00017 KWH per transaction, compared to Ethereal’s 102 KWH and Bitcoin’s a staggering 885 KWH.
Read the last part again-.00017KWH per transaction v. 885 KWH. There are fractions … and then there are fractions (of fractions).
However, this energy efficiency does not slow Hedera down. Quite the opposite, in fact: It averages 10,000 transactions per second, compared to Bitcoin’s 3, for an average fee of $0.0001 per transaction, compared to Bitcoin’s $22.57.
Hedera not only produces a more sustainable and scalable version of blockchain, it makes it more democratic and accessible to ordinary people. Developers can create and manage fungible and non-fungible tokens, record verifiable event logs for any app or permission framework, and deploy popular language smart contracts to create centralized apps and protocols.
2. Cardano
Cardano similarly provides blockchain technology at a fraction of the financial and energy costs associated with the industry.
It is built on top of ouroboros (a peer-reviewed protocol based on behavioral psychology, economic philosophy and mathematically verified mechanisms. According to Cardano, ouroboros is the “first provably secure proof-of-stake” protocol and is up to 4 million times more energy efficient than Bitcoin .
But it’s not just how it’s done, it’s who it’s for.
Envisioned as the blockchain of choice for changemakers, innovators and visionaries, Cardano provides the tools and technologies to drive positive global change and is built to endure. It is, according to the website, the infrastructure of the future.
Their use cases include education, agriculture, government, finance and healthcare, demonstrating that real-world problems can be solved using their technologies, particularly for verifying an item’s province, chain of custody and security.
3. Stellar
Like Hedera and Cardano, Stellar also boasts transactions that are faster, cheaper and more energy efficient than regular blockchains, offering an even more sustainable and scalable version.
However, Stellar emphasizes another main point: while other blockchain solutions were developed to undermine or replace existing financial systems, Stellar is a decentralized system that exists to improve existing global financial systems by allowing transparent currency trading. The Stellar network does not exist to trade lumens (its native digital currency), it exists to trade all currencies.
Launched in 2014, Stellar has already processed more than 2 billion transactions for large enterprises to individual developer companies building global payment apps, asset exchanges and micropayment services.
This technology (essentially makes money without borders, and is particularly useful for international transfers and payments, and end users experience it as cash, not tokens.
People from all over the world can buy and exchange any type of currency using Stellar. For example, an Argentina-based company, Vibrant, allows Argentines experiencing inflation to buy and hold USDC quickly and with little effort.
Such tools can be leveraged by ordinary people to make their lives a little easier, and can be used by developers to create the next generation of global financial networks.
4. IOTA
IOTA’s name should tell you all you need to know about the blockchain solution – it is designed for devices, such as sensors, to participate in low-energy networks (IOT=Internet of Things). This means that at its core, IOTA is a trust layer network for the exchange of value and data between humans and machines.
Think of IOTA’s Tangle network (as an open, emotionless distributed ledger to support frictionless data and value transfers. It can support actions as varied as allowing cars to pay for their own electronic charging or car washes, to help governments and other entities to manage natural resources and establish more transparent public services.
And the best part is, there are no blocks and no mining. When a user sends an IOTA transaction, they validate two other transactions, making the platform cheaper and more scalable than typical blockchains.
5. Algorand
Algorand was designed from top to bottom with the environment in mind.
Built as a green blockchain with a focus on environmental impact, Algorand is not only more energy efficient than the typical blockchain, but it is also committed to offsetting its (minuscule) carbon footprint through carbon offsets – something that is near and dear to our heart, of course.
With an emphasis on partnerships with organizations focused on sustainability, Algorand strives to deliver blockchain technology that will not negatively impact the environment. Groups such as Global Carbon Holding, ClimateTrade and PlanetWatch have all developed technologies on top of the Algorand platform.
PlanetWatch, for example, built a global network of affordable air quality sensors that can validate, filter and display data in real time.
At the end of the day, Algorand’s mission, according to its CEO, is nothing less than “ensuring that the next generation of blockchain adoption is environmentally friendly.” From their lips to our hearts and (hopefully) God’s ears.
CONCLUSION: WALKING AND LOOKING IN THE MIRROR EVERY MORNING
In addition, over the past decade, blockchain technologies have created enormous amounts of wealth for individuals. And we’re not here to begrudge anyone their earnings. But at the same time, blockchain also has the potential, when used for the right purposes with the right technology, to concretely improve the world around us – society, the economy and the environment.
At LBX, we know what our purpose is to find new ways to accelerate environmental improvements and action. That’s why LBX carbon credits are based solely on land remediation, not conservation alone. Because for LBX it wasn’t enough to just put the existing, often pointless carbon compensation system on the blockchain, we needed to connect it to concrete environmental improvements before we could.
Anyone can say they’re trying to make the world a better place, but they have to look at themselves in the mirror every night and know it’s true. At LBX, we know that to be true, and we’re happy that these 5 Green Blockchain projects we highlighted can say the same.
About Land Betterment Exchange – LBX
The Land Betterment Exchange process enables companies and sponsors who need carbon offsets to achieve their carbon neutral plan to keep their money local for the benefit of society and the environment, while receiving highly valuable, traceable and verifiable carbon offsets. LBX will work with sponsors to match them with projects that will be tracked using LBX blockchain technology, while providing ongoing documentation, photos and videos of the property remediation and revegetation. LBX works to incorporate the sponsor brand into the environmental remediation and bring the community together with the sponsors as they help to do good for the region and the environment. LBX keeps it local in the US. Land Betterment Exchange has engaged Land Betterment Corporation as its token and carbon offset issuance partner to ensure the integrity of the token and carbon offset process is upheld. Land Betterment Corporation and Land Betterment Exchange both believe that with real solutions, it is possible for restoration of affected areas to coexist with long-term employment, while building sustainable and safe environments for local communities and our planet. For more information visit www.thisislbx.com or connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Land Betterment Corporation
Land Betterment Corporation, an Indiana Benefit Corporation and Pending B-Corp, is an environmental solutions company focused on promoting positive impact through the recycling of former coal mining facilities to create sustainable community development and job creation. The company uses a complete solution-based lifecycle program to restore and rehabilitate the environment and revitalize communities in need of change and opportunity. Land Betterment accomplishes this by identifying unreclaimed, degraded and neglected coal mine sites, fixing the environment through reclamation and remediation, and then repurposing the land to support a sustainable business that serves the community. For more information visit landbetterment.com or contact the company on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Special note regarding forward-looking statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results, performance, or achievements or industry results to differ materially from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Land Betterment Corporation’s control. The words “believes”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “would”, “could”, “continue”, “seeks”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “expects”, “intends” , “estimate” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Any forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure you that the expected results or events will be achieved.
Company contacts:
Mark LaVerghetta
317.537.0492 ext. 0
Chief Governance Officer, Corporate Finance
[email protected]
Jessica Medeiros Garrison
205.568.4371
President
Land Improvement Exchange
[email protected]
Stephanie Conzelman
207.205.0790
Director of Stakeholder Engagement
[email protected]
See more multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Land Betterment Corporation at 3blmedia.com.
Contact information:
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SOURCE: Land Betterment Corporation
