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Ask HN: Is it technically possible to tie a cryptocurrency to decarbonization?

4 points by fapi1974 ↗ HN
Since BTC seems to create insane incentives to consume energy - I've been wondering if it would be possible to create an arbitrary cryptocurrency whose "mining" is tied to the verified removal of C02 from the atmosphere. Instead of getting governments to set a price for the carbon, consumer demand for the currency would drive the demand.

5 comments

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cjbenedikt
Interesting thought - not quite sure how to develop it into a viable concept though. We are working on technology to capture CO2 from seawater while simultaneously producing green hydrogen from seawater without desalination using off shore wind energy ( initially mostly surplus). We are pre-seed pre-revenue but with lots of interest from offshore wind operators particularly since Biden's ambitious plan. If said currency could help fund scaling such technologies... just wondering
fapi1974
I think the trick is in creating a rock solid "proof of" mechanism. Something that can be used for all different sorts of extraction technologies.
geoah
Kim stanley robinson’s “ministry for the future” discusses something similar to this dubbed “carbon coin” at some length, together with possible pros, cons, issues, opposition, etc. Worth the read.
geoah
Quote from an article about carbon coin in the book:

> It’s called Carbon Coin in the book, a Bitcoin-like currency that the Ministry gives out for carbon sequestration — that is, any project that sucks CO2 out of the air, whether it’s carbon capture or farmers rewilding their fields — at a rate of one coin to one ton. Oil companies get coins if they stop being oil companies, basically, leaving their assets in the ground for a century or so. Coins can then be bought and sold on currency exchanges like any other.

> The key point is that the world’s central banks agree to back it, buying Carbon Coins on a schedule that slowly raises their price. The planet-saving coin thus becomes the safest investment in history, even more so than U.S. Treasury bonds. Our entire economic system becomes as motivated to fight climate change as it is currently motivated to ignore it.

From: https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-coin-climate-change-cryp...

fapi1974
Awesome recommendation - will have a read.