Fighting Climate Change using Blockchain + AI 🌱

The world is burning… 👀🔥

Okay, maybe that was a dramatic opener, but also… kind of true? If you’re anywhere near the East Coast you know that temperatures have been all over the place. Here in Philly just last week we were touching mid-90s and crazy levels of humidity, meanwhile this week is a smooth 60/70 degrees. Now this isn’t a complaint because we love fall over here, but the drop in temperature was almost as dramatic as the first line of this post. 

While we don’t necessarily have to rehash all of the natural disasters Mother Earth has been hit with lately (because I’m sure we’ve all heard about the forest fires, tornadoes, tropical cyclones, and more), one thing is for certain…

Earth is in trouble if we don’t get it together – and so are we

And by now, you all know us – our goal is to explore how tech intersects with basically every facet of our life and has the ability to make our world better. So because we haven’t been giving Mother Nature the love she deserves lately, this week, we’re diving into the world of climate tech and how emerging technologies, such as blockchain technology and AI, have the potential to help get our climate under control. 

Without further ado, somebody cue “It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here” by Nelly and let’s dive in.

Earth is at risk, but why does it matter? 🌍

Before we talk about the tech applications within this space, let’s briefly touch on what climate tech is, why our planet is at risk, and most importantly – why it’s a big deal.

What’s climate tech? A collection of technologies and strategies aimed at combating climate change by reducing emissions and adapting to its impacts. 

What risks does climate change cause? *brings out the laundry list* Where to start?! The United Nations warns us against an increased number of intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity.

Why does this matter? 

• Climate change could be irreversible by 2030

• Greenhouse gas levels are at an all-time high

• More than 1 million species face extinction

• Climate change is creating a refugee crisis

• Our oceans are dying

• We use more of the earth's resources than it can renew

Safe to say, we have a pretty big problem on our hands. It’s going to take serious intervention and reversal to ensure our planet is around for many, many more years to come.

So, can Blockchain Technology save the day? 🦸

Now we can’t promise all that, BUT it surely can make a dent in the problem. Let’s explore a few use cases: 

• Carbon Emissions Tracking:  Blockchain can be used to create transparent and immutable ledgers for tracking carbon emissions. This enables organizations and governments to accurately measure and record their emissions data, including the carbon footprint of products and supply chains. 

• Renewable Energy Trading: Blockchain technology can facilitate peer-to-peer energy trading within decentralized energy grids. Individuals and organizations can buy and sell excess renewable energy directly to one another, reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and promoting the use of clean energy sources. 

• Supply Chain Transparency: Blockchain technology can enhance supply chain transparency by recording and verifying the origin and sustainability of products. This can help consumers make informed choices about the environmental impact of the products they purchase. Supply chain transparency can also enable companies to reduce emissions by optimizing logistics, reducing waste, and making sustainable sourcing decisions.

What about AI? 💻

Whether you're a student writing an essay at the last minute or a CEO trying to reduce your business's carbon footprint, you may be counting on AI to save the day. And it's true: there's a lot of faith in AI's ability to help fight climate change. According to a BCG study from last year, 87% of global public and private-sector climate leaders believe that AI is a helpful tool in the fight against climate change. So, what can AI actually do? A lot, but here are a few examples:

• Oceans: Even though it covers over 70% of Earth, only 25% of the ocean has been mapped and just 5% has been explored. Thankfully, AI-powered drone sailboats from Saildrone are helping us learn more. They can cruise for months to collect data on CO2, humidity, sunlight, and more. This data helps scientists explore even the most dangerous parts of the ocean.

• Textiles: remember that new top you bought last week? It probably contributed to the 186M pounds of textile waste that’s generated each year. And sadly, less than 1% of that is recycled into new clothing. That’s where startups like Refibered come in. They use AI to sort through all the waste they accept by material and color, and then send the processed waste to the recycler to preserve most of the material.  

• Agriculture: Climate change is a major threat to our food security, hurting crops and reducing crop yields, especially in areas that are already struggling to feed their people. AI startups like AgroScout are helping farmers fight back by using AI to monitor crops for pests and diseases early. This helps farmers treat their crops quickly and reduce crop losses.

So we’re good, right? 🌴

Listen, even though blockchain and AI show promise for addressing climate change, we can't rely on them alone. Business leaders, climate advocates, and regulatory authorities agree that these technologies need to be adopted at scale to really make a difference. On top of that, the world is growing rapidly, and so is our consumption and the associated problems, including climate change. The technology we need to solve these problems will need to grow too, and that won't be cheap.

In the meantime, we don't need crazy tech to start addressing climate change. We're not telling you to build AI models or blockchain protocols, but simple things like recycling and encouraging your local community to get involved can make a difference.

Company Spotlight: Terrafuse AI 🌲

Terrafuse AI was founded by Hunter Connell, who studied at Wharton (woot woot!), and a group of ambitious scientists and business leaders as a spin out of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

According to their website, they started Terrafuse because they experienced firsthand the impacts of extreme weather in California, where wildfire intensity potential worsened by 50% in the last few decades. They knew that, if equipped with the right intelligence, our government agencies, energy & insurance companies, and financial institutions could be doing more to adapt to climate risk.

Their vision is to embed climate risk, informed by artificial intelligence, into decision-making everywhere. By combining their expertise in climate science and machine learning with vast quantities of previously untapped Earth observation data, Terrafuse can more accurately, precisely, and efficiently model climate risk at any given location.

We love to see it! 👏

Jobs in Web3: Bag Talk 💰

Check out some roles that we recently came across! Also, let us know if there are specific types of roles and companies you're interested in. We’d love to tailor this to our audience, especially those actively looking. :)

• Applied Scientist II, Gen AI Innovation Center at Amazon

• Research Engineer at Character AI

• Director, Carbon & Environmental Solutions at S&P Global

• Associate, Digital Assets Platform at Point72

• Product Manager II at Coinbase 

What’s Happening in the News 🗞️

Here’s what caught our attention over the past two weeks –

• Google wraps up week 1 of its antitrust lawsuit

• Citi debuts deposit and trade services on blockchains for institutional clients

• Stoke Space completes milestone test in quest to build a fully reusable rocket

As always, thanks for tapping in with us! Excited to catch the Nexwave with y’all in a couple weeks!

– Chad & Kendall