Electronic Vehicle Batteries a Net Positive with Civic Ledger Water Accounting on Blockchain
World’s first blockchain pilot for critical minerals includes water accounting on Water Ledger
The world’s first digital blockchain pilot for critical minerals is a collaboration between Everledger and significant contributors from Australia, including Civic Ledger, and world experts.
The pilot received $3 million in grant from the Australian Government, as part of the Blockchain Pilot Program.
Blockchain technology will be used to create a ‘digital certification’ for critical minerals throughout the supply chain from extraction to processing and export to global markets.
The pilot will help companies in the sector adhere to compliance regulations and increase the demand for Australian minerals in global markets while also simplifying the process and lowering costs.
As part of the pilot, Civic Ledger will be the first blockchain-based enterprise to implement a framework for digital twin water accounting in the Australian mining industry, contributing to the national “ethical certification” framework.
Working towards a critical technology framework
The Australian Government recently announced its new Blueprint for Critical Technologies which is a strategy aimed at protecting and promoting the technologies that are set to make the biggest impact on Australians, now and heading into the future.
Attached to the blueprint is an action plan, which sets out a list of critical technologies that the federal government will prioritise as part of the blueprint to build out the country’s critical technology infrastructure.
The action plan defines critical technologies as current and emerging technologies with the capacity to significantly enhance or pose risk to the national interest.
Among those included in the list of 63 critical technologies are advanced data analytics, distributed ledgers (blockchain), and electric batteries.
Blockchain’s role in tracing critical minerals
As we transition to net zero in a globally connected world, how we power the personal transport that takes us from point A to point B will play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions. Personal vehicles are a major contributor to climate change, with cars and trucks collectively accounting for around one-fifth of all carbon emissions.
As such, we urgently need to ensure that the full lifecycle of Electric Vehicle Batteries (EVBs), from materials to manufacture, has net positive impact on the environment as we transition away from fossil fuel dependency.
Water plays a pivotal role in both mining of critical minerals and manufacture of sustainable products such as EVBs. Civic Ledger has led the digitisation of water management on blockchain with its Water Ledger pilot in Northern Australia.
Now, as part of the Blockchain for Critical Minerals pilot led by Everledger, Civic Ledger’s contribution to the pilot will include:
- reducing the time and costs of completing water accounting and reporting obligations to regulators
- increasing visibility of water licence compliance between regulators, and
- meeting emerging requirements in global markets by disclosing water stewardship activities.
The role of Civic Ledger in the pilot
Civic Ledger’s Water Ledger solution will play a pivotal role in providing an accessible digital platform to demonstrate water accounting compliance to support responsible sourcing of Australian minerals.
Blockchain’s role will be vital to ensure data capture relating to critical mineral extraction and movement through global supply chains is cryptographically secure, while smart contracts validate adherence to relevant compliance regulations (at state, territory and federal levels) and business rules.
The outcome of the pilot will form the basis of a national provenance blockchain for Australian battery minerals that producers can share with the international battery and automotive product supply chain, promoting a chain of custody platform from the source of minerals, through the entire supply chain.
Civic Ledger’s participation in the pilot is part of our mission to redesign the markets of tomorrow so they are transparent, fair, interconnected and play a role in ensuring a net positive outcome for people and planet.
ABOUT CIVIC LEDGER
Multi-award-winning technology company Civic Ledger is building trust layer solutions for the markets of tomorrow.
Civic Ledger provides blockchain solutions to enable a sustainable revival of growth. With Civic Ledger technology, water, carbon, nutrients, and biodiversity will be able to be securely and transparently accounted for — how much we have, how much we share, and how much we use.
We work closely with environmental market operators, regulators, utilities, traditional owners, industry and the agricultural sector to ensure solutions that are comprehensive, responsible, intuitive, and future proof.
Our team is distributed across Asia, Europe, and Australasia, and will soon be growing into the US. In 2021, we were the only Australian company accepted into the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers cohort.
ABOUT WATER LEDGER
Water Ledger is the world’s first blockchain-based platform for the management and trading of water. The result is a more open, transparent, and publicly verifiable system to support improved water management and enhance the water trading experience with water rights that are clearly defined, enforceable, and transferable.
As a peer-to-peer trust layer solution, Water Ledger eliminates the need for third parties to intermediate between buyers and sellers, drastically reducing the complexity of water trading. Water Ledger’s enables secure ecosystem growth as more water related activities — from water utilities to water recycling — transition to blockchain-based solutions.
