Solana going green with real-time data on network carbon emissions

We have been hearing quite a bit recently on the environment and sustainability. It seems that almost every other day some environmental issue is being reported on, but at the same time, we hear about positive developments. One such development comes from a beloved coin among investors, Solana.

The Solana Foundation stated today that Solana is now monitoring data relevant to its carbon emissions in real-time. It is “a major smart contract blockchain network” that claims it is a first-of-its-kind action. The code that drives NFT projects and decentralized apps (Dapps) is stored in smart contracts.

They are reporting that starting today, Solana will routinely update a dedicated dashboard with statistics tracking the network’s main environmental indicators, including its network power intensity, energy usage and carbon footprint. The dashboard will be updated only every two weeks, but it gathers real-time data from software placed on Solana validator nodes.

This is very positive news to all those conscious of the environmental impacts of cryptocurrency. Later in this article, we will discuss other exciting initiatives in this sector, such as the new project Ecoterra, which is currently in pre-sale. For now, let’s see what Solana has unveiled.

The emissions tracker, created in partnership with carbon data platform Trycarbonara, collects statistics from on-chain data as well as information that was gathered directly from a sample of Solana validators. In comparison to earlier relied-upon estimates, the more detailed data, which monitors each validator’s geographic location and the times they are online and offline, provides a significantly more accurate evaluation of Solana’s energy use.

Policy Lead Amira Valliani said in an interview with Decrypt,

I would love for this to become an industry standard. We ought to be upfront about how emissions seem. You may choose how you use a chain intentionally if you are aware of what is happening at the blockchain level as a user.

Enormous energy costs

Blockchain networks, which may consume enormous amounts of energy to create new tokens and support on-chain transactions, have long been a contentious topic. It is an often-cited argument by crypto detractors against cryptocurrency adoption.

In the case of Solana Foundation, which is responsible for the decentralized Solana network’s well-being, they believe that the problem needs to be acknowledged in order for there to be hope in addressing it.

Members of the foundation believe that by setting an example and being upfront about their network’s climate impact, other networks will follow suit and this will alter how crypto users perceive their relationship to the environment.

For example, according to recent research, pollution created by software and computers—a sector in which crypto-related outputs play a significant role—accounts for about twice as much pollution as that produced by the whole aviation industry, although maybe being less visually harmful.

However, for all cryptocurrency users to have access to such data, most significant blockchain networks will need to actively participate in the disclosure of their carbon footprint. Analysts are able to quantify a blockchain’s environmental effect thanks to publicly available on-chain data. However, without information provided voluntarily by members of specific networks, those estimations may eventually be incorrect.

According to Hayagriv Sridharan, co-founder and CEO of Trycarbonara,

That data is frequently either underestimated or overestimated, but there is never certainty around it. The data will not be as accurate or useful as when we have stronger collaboration, even if we can model any blockchain without its foundation’s help.

The Proof-of-Work vs Proof-of-Stake controversy

Sridharan is hopeful that further blockchains will emulate Solana and offer such assistance. The fact that users of proof-of-work networks like Bitcoin, which frequently consume far more energy than proof-of-stake networks like Solana and Ethereum, are ready to willingly subject their way of life to more scrutiny by environmentalists, however, might complicate matters.

Proof-of-stake blockchains enable validators to validate on-chain transactions and create new cryptocurrencies as a result of their substantial cryptocurrency deposits (or stakes) into the network. Proof-of-work blockchains, on the other hand, demand miners to process transactions by focusing massive amounts of computer power at challenging problems, with winners receiving fresh cryptocurrency.

Not long ago, Ethereum switched from the energy intensive Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake.

Trycarbonara estimates that a single Bitcoin transaction uses 5.79 million times as much energy than a proof-of-stake Solana transaction. The difficulty of these puzzles—and the energy needed to answer them—is only rising as reward supplies of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin get more and more constrained.

A law limiting Bitcoin miners’ capacity to draw electricity from the unstable Texas energy system during demand surges was approved by the Texas Senate last week. In order to evaluate the harmful environmental impacts of cryptocurrency mining, a county in North Carolina is considering a one-year moratorium.

Since Ethereum’s successful “merge” in the fall of last year, which switched the network from its long-standing proof-of-work methodology to proof-of-stake, some of the criticism over the environmental effect of cryptocurrencies has subsided. The Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute estimates that the action reduced Ethereum’s projected carbon footprint by more than 99.99%.

The larger argument, though, recently resurfaced when a contentious New York Times piece looked at the impact Bitcoin mining has on the environment. The article was criticized as “false and misleading,” “politically-driven,” and a “hit piece” that served as a “monument of intellectual laziness,” according to the critics.

Some proponents of Bitcoin assert that such studies ignore the volume of renewable energy utilized to mine the currency or what they perceive to be a beneficial effect on grid stability. Other cryptocurrency proponents point out that centralized sectors do not disclose their energy use, making it difficult to make an accurate comparison to, say, the footprint of IT giants or the conventional banking system.

It is obvious that both sides of the argument still find the subject to be delicate. But a tracker like Solana’s is a start in the right direction for more accuracy and openness in energy reporting in the Web3 era. However, it will be left to individual cryptocurrency users to determine what effect it will have.

Ecoterra – a new green cryptocurrency

In the area of green cryptocurrencies, a project worth mentioning is Ecoterra, a new presale crypto aiming to solve climate change issues using blockchain tech, ‘Recycle2Earn’, and carbon credits. This project is one of the best ways to earn free crypto, all while helping the environment.

As mankind works to lessen the effects of climate change and environmental deterioration, recycling is both an ecological requirement and a financial opportunity.

Ecoterra is developing a system to reward recyclers and a system to encourage ecological action actions that benefit our environment in order to assist in achieving those goals.

The most crucial component of the ecosystem is the recycle2earn app from Ecoterra. Users of the smartphone app have access to the platform’s three primary pillars: the markets for recycled materials and carbon offsets, as well as the impact profile, which tracks ecological acts.

Ecoterra’s CEO Mihai Ciutureanu on the Market for Recyclable Materials’ Filtering System

In a recent AMA on Coinsniper, ecoterra CEO Mihai Ciutureanu gave his audience an explanation of some of the design choices made for the project, how it would operate, and what will be done with the money raised from investors.

More information regarding the market for recycled materials was given by the CEO.

According to Ciutureanu,

The Recycled Materials Marketplace serves as a platform that connects businesses in need of recycled materials with recycling businesses providing those resources. The marketplace makes sure that the products posted are in line with the precise requirements of purchasers by utilizing a sophisticated screening mechanism.

Payments may be made using other cryptocurrencies or $ECOTERRA tokens, and for better transparency, the purchase history may be linked into a company’s trackable profile.

He included an explanation of the team’s decision to use the Ethereum blockchain. “In our opinion, Ethereum is the blockchain that best meets our needs. It facilitates the creation of smart contracts that are suited to our particular needs and is trustworthy and safe.”

The Coinsniper AMA moderator, Kieran, posed a query that emphasized the significant benefit the initiative offers not just to consumers but also to business:

I work for a top plastic packaging firm, and this is clearly something the industry needs. Most businesses also want it right now because doing so would result in significant tax savings for businesses that employ recycled plastics for packaging.

Ciutureanu agreed as one might assume, saying that “pair[ing] with blockchain technology is the greatest approach to link demand and offer [options] for recycled materials.”

Liquidity Pool and Corporate Onboarding Strategy of Ecoterra

Ciutureanu continued by providing some further details on the tokenomics used by Ecoterra.

The ecosystem liquidity pool (LP) balances the $ECOTERRA that comes in from fees and packages that businesses buy with the $ECOTERRA that goes out to reward users of the Recycle2Earn app. For corporate adoption, we will focus on the initial set of businesses and entice them to join our ecosystem by providing free trial packages.

They will be able to comprehend the workings of Ecoterra’s ecosystem better thanks to this method. The CEO’s discussion of how his team plans to fulfill the roadmap milestones may have been the most crucial.

While continuing to work on the other Ecoterra pillars, we aim to release the beta version of the Recycle2Earn app before the end of the year. We are incorporating different brands into the ecosystem in the meantime. We now have Vittel, Heineken, San Pellegrino, and Dr. Pepper included, and we want to add more in the upcoming weeks. In the future months, we will also concentrate on developing collaborations. Our current conversations have produced encouraging outcomes thus far.

Pepsi, Fanta, and Peroni are currently being added to the Ecoterra database of recyclables that may be scanned.

The Ecoterra team has extensive knowledge of the recycling sector, and the initiative has already established a collaboration with the Delhaize (Lion) grocery chain.

Reverse vending machines (RVMs)

Reverse vending machines (RVMs), a crucial component of the circular economy-aligned recycling system, are offered at Delhaize’s stores across its branch networks in Europe, North America, and Asia. Recycling value machines (RVMs) take recyclables and repay the user. For each item you recycle, you will be able to earn tokens using the recycle-earn Ecoterra app.

Promoting Sustainable Actions and Recognizing Environmental Stewardship: Ecoterra’s NFTs

Experts anticipate more interest in initiatives like Ecoterra that score highly in the environmental, social, and governance categories. To put that into perspective, it may result in an exorbitant return on investment for early purchasers, resulting, at the very least, in a ten-bagger (10x) price for Ecoterra.

With Ecoterra, all environmental initiatives that a person or business performs are added up to milestone achievement totals that are represented by non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Every activity is measurable and serves as the primary input for the impact profile of each person or business.

By using NFT technology, environmentally friendly activities like planting trees or eliminating plastic from the environment are made marketable commodities. NFTs, in essence, provide us all more motivation to act in the best interests of the environment.

By producing renewable energy, you may make money and help the environment. Another fantastic Ecoterra feature is the option to employ renewable power produced by businesses and people to earn $ECOTERRA token revenue.

Pre-sale

The current Stage 4 of the presale has only seven days left. However, as there is only $450,000 left, this level will be sold out much before then.

Since Ecoterra has been selling at a rate of about $200,000 per day on average, Stage 4 may be completely sold out by the weekend. This indicates that the window of opportunity to lock in the present cheap price is getting smaller. In order to lock in the Stage 4 $ECOTERRA token price of $0.0065, prospective investors must act quickly.

The token price increases by 12% when Stage 5 begins, from $0.00625 to $0.0070.

As the presale ends, experts anticipate high returns for investors.

As the presale progresses, the fundraising run rate keeps increasing, and analysts anticipate significant returns on investment for early purchasers of the $ECOTERRA token. There truly is not much time left because the presale has been so successful that it could be completely sold out by the end of April.

Investors who want to purchase $ECOTERRA tokens must have ETH or the Tether stablecoin (USDT). Those who are not familiar with cryptocurrencies can make purchases using a card and regular “fiat” money.

After the presale is over, $ECOTERRA will list on exchanges for $0.01, which is 150% more expensive than Stage 1’s $0.004 pricing and 60% more expensive than Stage 4’s current price.

Participate in the Pre-sale Now

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