3 blockchains that are actually good for the environment
Environmentally-friendly blockchains to build the green dApps of tomorrow.
Blockchain = bad for the environment?
Blockchains have come under a lot of fire in recent months for their energy consumption and impact on the environment. And there’s definitely something to it. Older Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum rely on massive amounts of computing power to solve complex cryptographic puzzles to include new blocks in the chain. Now, Bitcoin consumes more energy annually than Finland, a nation of 5.5 million.
As a result, there has been a huge backlash against the booming popularity of NFTs, one-of-kind digital collectibles that are commonly created on the Ethereum blockchain, and increased legislative and regulatory resistance to more widespread blockchain adoption.
But are blockchains actually bad for the environment?
Not necessarily!
But what a lot of blockchain critics fail to consider is the energy efficiency of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains. These blockchains use a consensus mechanism that is not based on computing power, but rather on the share of the blockchain’s assets a validator holds. It eliminates the massive energy consumption needed to validate new blocks, and in many cases even speeds up transaction times.
So this is a step in the right direction: not all blockchains are bad for the environment.
And a few blockchains take things a step further…
Not only do some blockchains employ PoS consensus mechanisms that aren’t terrible for the environment, but some are actively taking significant measures to ensure their impact on the environment is positive. How is this possible? By partnering with environmental organizations and participating in carbon offset programs, several blockchains have pledged to maintain a negative carbon footprint.
So here are three blockchains that are actually good for the environment. And we’re proud to announce that we support all of them in Tatum. If you want to build apps that actually contribute positively to the health of our planet, you can do it in no time with any of these.
Algorand
As one of the top 20 blockchains, Algorand has a massive userbase and developer ecosystem. It features immediate transaction finality and allows you to build fast and scalable apps on a highly secure and decentralized network. Algorand has partnered with ClimateTrade to offset the low level of carbon produced by the Algorand Network and make Algorand the first carbon-neutral blockchain network. As part of this commitment, the Algorand community will ensure that the network will remain carbon neutral throughout the network’s entire existence. Algorand’s sustainability partners include PlanetWatch, ClimateTrade, GaiaChain, IUCN, and Global Carbon Holding.
Celo
Celo is a mobile-first, PoS blockchain that is thousands of times faster than Ethereum and can process 7 million transactions per ton of CO2 emitted by its infrastructure. Its mission is to facilitate financial inclusion by making blockchain technology accessible and useable to everyone. To date, Celo has offset over 2,285 tons of its carbon emissions by working with Project Wren, and has already set aside funds to offset another 4,696 tons. That’s enough to make the blockchain 8 times carbon negative! Not to mention, they have some amazing and environmentally friendly projects already running on their network.
Elrond
Elrond is a lightning-fast blockchain for building internet-scale applications. Its current capacity of 15,000 transactions per second (tps) already dwarfs that of Bitcoin (around 7 tps) or Ethereum (around 15 tps) and can be scaled to up to 100,000 tps in the future. Elrond has partnered with Offsetra to offset its carbon footprint to the point of earning a 25% positive impact on the environment, a move that “seeds the foundations of a digital network of trust for the generations to come,” according to Elrond CEO and co-founder, Benjamin Mincu.
Are you ready to build?
You can build full-fledged blockchain apps on any of these environmentally friendly protocols with a Tatum free plan. We provide you with infrastructure and a unified framework that significantly speeds up blockchain development. You don’t need any blockchain experience, and you don’t have to upgrade to a paid plan unless you need more than 5 API requests per second.
Sign up for a free plan here, check out our documentation here, and if you have any questions please feel free to hop on to our Discord or subreddit and one of our devs will get on the case asap!
