Blockchain smart contracts will help us fight climate change and its impacts in entirely new ways.
Among them, the oracle network plays a key role. The oracle network can connect the blockchain to data in the real world.
This article will illustrate the application potential of this emerging technology through three case studies.
Over the past few months, blockchain networks such as Bitcoin have come under the spotlight for their energy consumption. However, the discussion ignores the enormous potential of smart contracts in combating climate change. Smart contracts run on the blockchain, the contracts are completely transparent and traceable, cannot be tampered with, and can be executed automatically.
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stumbling block on the way
Prior to this, the development of green smart contracts encountered some bottlenecks, that is, the blockchain itself cannot effectively connect data in the real world, such as environmental data. However, in recent years, the development of oracle machines has become more and more mature, which can transmit real-world data to the blockchain. For example, oracles can nowagricultural datasecondary title
1. Regenerative Agriculture
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How smart contract technology can incentivize regenerative agriculture initiatives,Image: Chainlink Labs
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2. Encourage environmentally friendly consumer behavior
Smart contracts can also empower environmentally conscious individuals and organizations. For example, once an individual triggers the smart contract for reforestation, they will receive a carbon token as a reward. These tokens can be sold to charities, crowdfunding projects or even businesses looking to contribute to the environment. Satellites or Internet of Things devices must report to the smart contract that the reforestation data meets the preset standards before the contract will issue carbon sinks. As a result, these organizations can verify that the money they put in is actually having an impact.
Smart contracts can also provide a variety of energy consumption options for environmentally conscious consumers. Decentralized grids such as the Brooklyn Microgrid project use smart contracts to let users generate electricity and trade solar power with neighbors on a trading platform that uses blockchain as a coordination mechanism. Trading solar energy among neighbors can effectively reduce energy transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
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3. Hedge your risk with crop insurance
The global impact of climate change is increasing, and most farmers around the world do not have any insurance, and climate change affects this group particularly hard. Weather conditions such as rainfall, drought and high winds can take their toll. Despite 75% of agricultural risks being uninsured, traditional insurers have so far been unable to adequately cover small farmers in developing countries. As a result, the lives of most farmers are precarious, and severe weather can cause economic losses for them, eventually forcing them to relocate their families and leaving their fields barren. If climate change continues to intensify, farmers are bound to be the worst affected.
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wider sky
Internet applications have developed from e-mail to todays scale, which has far exceeded the original application scope. Likewise, the rise of smart contracts proves that blockchain technology is much more than a decentralized currency. The blockchain teamed up with the oracle machine to jointly open the curtain of the era of smart contracts and create a new incentive mechanism for the sustainable development of human beings. As the issue of climate change gets more and more attention, we need to show the public that the discussion about the environmental impact of blockchain should not be limited to the energy consumption of blockchain consensus mechanism, but also include the impact of blockchain technology on sustainable development. Great value for development.
