9 Jan 2018
“How do we fix this? How do we solve problems—not just make it ‘less bad’? When I look around at the approaches that people are taking towards climate change, it’s all mitigation. It’s all trying to make things ‘less bad’ than they’re going to be. Everyone seems to accept it that this is going to happen, and we’re just going to have to deal with the effects. Well, I don’t. I don’t accept that.”
Nori (formerly Geagora) seeks to solve the problem of climate change by reversing the process that got us into this mess. We’ve burned fossil fuels and emitted gasses into the air. So why can’t we simply remove these same gasses from the atmosphere and put them somewhere—in the soil, in drywall, or even tennis shoes? The Nori team developed their idea for the ConsenSys Blockchain for Social Impact hackathon. Their concept is to build a carbon removal marketplace on the blockchain that enables customers to pay other people to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, eventually lowering the overall concentration of CO2 to 350 parts per million.
On the inaugural podcast, Ross and Christophe are joined by Nori CEO Paul Gambill to discuss the concept of carbon removal and the scope of the problem presented by climate change. Paul addresses Nori's approach to reversing climate change, explaining the necessity of removing carbon from the atmosphere rather than simply reducing emissions. They also cover the basics of the blockchain and cryptocurrency, revealing how Nori would use tokens to eliminate the problems presented by the current cap and trade system. Listen and learn how Nori's carbon removal marketplace would function, how technology could be used to validate sequestration activities, and how companies are innovating around carbon removal.
Key Takeaways
[5:24] The concept of carbon removal
Taking CO2 out of atmosphere permanently
Trees accomplish through photosynthesis
Direct air capture (machines suck CO2 out of atmosphere)
Use to create new solid material (i.e.: drywall)
[9:31] Why carbon removal is necessary
Climate change is real
Too much CO2 in atmosphere
More than 408 ppm, rising 2 ppm every year
36B tons emitted annually
[11:10] The carbon levels that would put us in the ‘danger zone’
UNIPCC estimates that 450 ppm is when things get bad
Organic matter trapped under ice (permafrost)
When ice melts, organic matter exposed to air
Organic matter decomposes and releases methane
Warming potential of methane 25X more potent than CO2
[12:36] Paul’s take on fixing climate change
Current approach to make ‘less bad’
What if we reversed the process?
Social unrest results from draught
[18:40] Shortcomings of the cap and trade system
Promotes reduction rather than removal of CO2
Middlemen (i.e.: legal compliance, auditing and accounting) add to overhead
Creates additionality (build plants to receive credits)
Must find counterparty to buy offsets
[33:35] The mechanics of Nori
Realigns incentive structure, builds carbon removal marketplace
Makes it easier to pay people to sequester CO2
Create cryptocurrency token backed by carbon removal assets
Each token equivalent to one ton of CO2
Receive tokens (negative emissions credits) for removing CO2
Tokens traded by speculators on third-party exchange
Establishes universal carbon price
[37:18] How sequestration activities are validated
Current system has 200-plus protocols
Auditors validating manually, further increases overhead
Nori seeks to make validation easier via IoT, automatic sensors
[38:31] The Carbon Harvest project example
Incentivizes farmer to store CO2 in soil
Farmers use cover crops, rotate crops and stop tilling
Get paid to approach farming in different way
IOT would measure CO2 stored in soil, farmers paid based on increase
[41:46] How companies are innovating around carbon removal
Interface building carbon-storing carpet
Nori would provide quasi-subsidy
[42:56] How third parties could develop in the ecosystem
Financier invest in sequestration project, pay cash for tokens
Growth in value = profit model for third-party lender
Suppliers, buyers and speculators create three-sided platform
#carbonremoval #blockchain #startup
Nori (formerly Geagora) seeks to solve the problem of climate change by reversing the process that got us into this mess. We’ve burned fossil fuels and emitted gasses into the air. So why can’t we simply remove these same gasses from the atmosphere and put them somewhere—in the soil, in drywall, or even tennis shoes? The Nori team developed their idea for the ConsenSys Blockchain for Social Impact hackathon. Their concept is to build a carbon removal marketplace on the blockchain that enables customers to pay other people to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, eventually lowering the overall concentration of CO2 to 350 parts per million.
On the inaugural podcast, Ross and Christophe are joined by Nori CEO Paul Gambill to discuss the concept of carbon removal and the scope of the problem presented by climate change. Paul addresses Nori's approach to reversing climate change, explaining the necessity of removing carbon from the atmosphere rather than simply reducing emissions. They also cover the basics of the blockchain and cryptocurrency, revealing how Nori would use tokens to eliminate the problems presented by the current cap and trade system. Listen and learn how Nori's carbon removal marketplace would function, how technology could be used to validate sequestration activities, and how companies are innovating around carbon removal.
Key Takeaways
[5:24] The concept of carbon removal
Taking CO2 out of atmosphere permanently
Trees accomplish through photosynthesis
Direct air capture (machines suck CO2 out of atmosphere)
Use to create new solid material (i.e.: drywall)
[9:31] Why carbon removal is necessary
Climate change is real
Too much CO2 in atmosphere
More than 408 ppm, rising 2 ppm every year
36B tons emitted annually
[11:10] The carbon levels that would put us in the ‘danger zone’
UNIPCC estimates that 450 ppm is when things get bad
Organic matter trapped under ice (permafrost)
When ice melts, organic matter exposed to air
Organic matter decomposes and releases methane
Warming potential of methane 25X more potent than CO2
[12:36] Paul’s take on fixing climate change
Current approach to make ‘less bad’
What if we reversed the process?
Social unrest results from draught
[18:40] Shortcomings of the cap and trade system
Promotes reduction rather than removal of CO2
Middlemen (i.e.: legal compliance, auditing and accounting) add to overhead
Creates additionality (build plants to receive credits)
Must find counterparty to buy offsets
[33:35] The mechanics of Nori
Realigns incentive structure, builds carbon removal marketplace
Makes it easier to pay people to sequester CO2
Create cryptocurrency token backed by carbon removal assets
Each token equivalent to one ton of CO2
Receive tokens (negative emissions credits) for removing CO2
Tokens traded by speculators on third-party exchange
Establishes universal carbon price
[37:18] How sequestration activities are validated
Current system has 200-plus protocols
Auditors validating manually, further increases overhead
Nori seeks to make validation easier via IoT, automatic sensors
[38:31] The Carbon Harvest project example
Incentivizes farmer to store CO2 in soil
Farmers use cover crops, rotate crops and stop tilling
Get paid to approach farming in different way
IOT would measure CO2 stored in soil, farmers paid based on increase
[41:46] How companies are innovating around carbon removal
Interface building carbon-storing carpet
Nori would provide quasi-subsidy
[42:56] How third parties could develop in the ecosystem
Financier invest in sequestration project, pay cash for tokens
Growth in value = profit model for third-party lender
Suppliers, buyers and speculators create three-sided platform
#carbonremoval #blockchain #startup
- 4 participants
- 47 minutes
26 Nov 2017
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https://archive.devcon.org/archive/watch/3/the-data-mechanics-of-saving-the-planet
This talk gives a first-hand account of a joint field research project by Terra Genesis International and Streamr. We present a technical report from an Ecuadorean cocoa plantation on how to collect real-time carbon sequestration data from IoT sensors and drone soil sampling, and how to transmit it securely to Ethereum smart contracts via a decentralized peer-to-peer data transport layer. We will share the scientific underpinnings with the audience, demonstrate the potential of the project in helping reverse global warming, discuss the use of automated drone technology for sensor distribution and sample collection, and visualize the methodology for solving connectivity and data collection issues in an important real-life use case.
Speaker(s): Gregory Landua, Risto Karjalainen
Skill level: Intermediate
Track: Society and Systems
Follow us: https://twitter.com/efdevcon, https://twitter.com/ethereum
Learn more about devcon: https://www.devcon.org/
Learn more about ethereum: https://ethereum.org/
Devcon is the Ethereum conference for developers, researchers, thinkers, and makers.
Devcon 3 was held in Cancún, Mexico on Nov 1 - 4, 2017
Devcon is organized and presented by the Ethereum Foundation, with the support of our sponsors. To find out more, please visit https://ethereum.foundation/
https://archive.devcon.org/archive/watch/3/the-data-mechanics-of-saving-the-planet
This talk gives a first-hand account of a joint field research project by Terra Genesis International and Streamr. We present a technical report from an Ecuadorean cocoa plantation on how to collect real-time carbon sequestration data from IoT sensors and drone soil sampling, and how to transmit it securely to Ethereum smart contracts via a decentralized peer-to-peer data transport layer. We will share the scientific underpinnings with the audience, demonstrate the potential of the project in helping reverse global warming, discuss the use of automated drone technology for sensor distribution and sample collection, and visualize the methodology for solving connectivity and data collection issues in an important real-life use case.
Speaker(s): Gregory Landua, Risto Karjalainen
Skill level: Intermediate
Track: Society and Systems
Follow us: https://twitter.com/efdevcon, https://twitter.com/ethereum
Learn more about devcon: https://www.devcon.org/
Learn more about ethereum: https://ethereum.org/
Devcon is the Ethereum conference for developers, researchers, thinkers, and makers.
Devcon 3 was held in Cancún, Mexico on Nov 1 - 4, 2017
Devcon is organized and presented by the Ethereum Foundation, with the support of our sponsors. To find out more, please visit https://ethereum.foundation/
- 4 participants
- 16 minutes
