United States Senator Edward Markey and Representative Jared Huffman announced March 3 that they would reintroduce the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act in Congress. The move comes ahead of a Senate hearing on the environmental impact of crypto mining, which Markey will chair on March 7. Markey and Huffman first introduced the bill in December, in the previous Congress. Sen. Jeff Merkley acted as cosponsor in the Senate. The bill would require crypto mining companies to disclose emissions for operations that consume more than five megawatts of power and require the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to head up …

'Recycle to Earn' was the motto presented by Eric Vogel earlier this month while pitching his startup at the European Blockchain Convention, decades after he started recycling plastics and cans from his grandmother's house to earn extra money for a Game Boy. Vogel's love for video games and increasing interest in the impact of recycling in the world are behind his inspiration for Circularr, a London-based company seeking to connect recyclers, manufacturers, and brands throughout a decentralized recycling ecosystem. Proper recycling is a growing challenge.According to the Plastic Waste Makers Index, recycling across the world is not expanding fast enough …

The COP has also created tools to prevent climate doomsday. Such economic tools as voluntary and compliance carbon markets, carbon credits, green bonds and other green assets tied to positive environmental impact play a crucial role in decarbonization global efforts. However, they are often inaccessible to small and medium-sized companies from developing countries. The main reasons are high upfront costs and complex structuring processes in line with global green standards. Positive and negative impacts on the environment have to be forecasted and described according to approved methodologies. This information is used for the future monitoring and reporting and is verified …

United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm were the recipients Feb. 6 of another letter on the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining. Eight Democratic lawmakers headed by Elizabeth Warren reached out to the officials this time. The eight lawmakers acknowledged previous replies to official correspondence asking about the agencies’ information gathering authority as it relates to energy used in crypto mining. Now they have followed up with a series of questions on practical matter relating to information gathering and the use of the information they receive. They wrote: “The urgency of the climate crisis, …

Crypto mining firm Riot Platforms — formerly Riot Blockchain — reported that 17,040 rigs deployed at its operations in Texas were offline due to “severe winter weather” in the state. According to a Feb. 6 announcement, Riot reported two of the buildings at its Whinstone facility in Rockdale, Texas were damaged in December 2022 as the state experienced days of sub-zero temperatures. From Dec. 22 to Dec. 25, temperatures across many parts of Texas — and the United States — dropped to below freezing. “Some sections of piping in Buildings F and G were damaged during the severe winter storms …

Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the first national park in the world to run a Bitcoin (BTC) mine in an effort to protect its forests and wildlife. Cointelegraph spoke with Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of Big Block Green Services, and the man who introduced Bitcoin mining to the park. Speaking via video call, Gouspillou said with a smile: “Bitcoin mining saved the park from bankruptcy.” Virunga is Africa's oldest protected park and a symbol of the continent's biodiversity. A report by journalist Adam Popescu, published in MIT Technology Review, explained that the region was …

Simply trading carbon credits, on the blockchain or otherwise, won’t solve a lot for the environment as companies must understand why they’re using them and how to make a real impact, carbon blockchain executives argue. During a panel session in Davos, Switzerland, moderated by Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr on Jan. 16, several executives from carbon blockchain platforms spoke about the increasing interest from companies in carbon trading. Karen Zapata, the COO of carbon blockchain platform ClimateTrade, said that sustainability had been a “trending topic” with many companies keen to get involved, but said that many still don’t understand it. …

A climate tech investor has painted a bright view of the Bitcoin (BTC) network, suggesting BTC’s environmental positives outweigh its negatives by a whopping 31:1 ratio. On Jan. 12, self-proclaimed philanthropist and environmentalist Daniel Batten claimed in a Twitter thread that “Bitcoin is probably the most important ESG technology of our time.” According to Batten, the 31:1 positive impact ratio was calculated by researching and interviewing grid engineers, climate scientists, BTC mining engineers, methane abatement experts, and solar and wind installers. The findings discovered 21 ways Bitcoin could be an environmental positive and just five ways it could be an …

2022 saw the continued advancement of green crypto projects as more industry companies focused on sustainability to reduce carbon emissions. A series of elemental forces drove the paradigm shift, including user demands for faster and more energy-efficient blockchains, growing climate change awareness among investors, and rising government concerns about energy consumption in the crypto sector. Among the most notable eco-friendly crypto developments in 2022 was the transition of the Ethereum blockchain from a proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus layer. The Merge, completed in September, joined the original execution layer of Ethereum with its new PoS consensus layer, the Beacon …

Climate change has become one of the most pressing issues in the modern world with mounting pressure on companies to develop and implement climate strategies. Politicians around the globe have also been actively involved, with several nations pledging to go carbon-neutral in the next couple of decades. Amid all the initiatives and conferences led by politicians and billion-dollar companies over the years, the threat of global warming and the carbon emissions spilling into the atmosphere have only risen. The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, was the 27th United Nations climate change …

Fabio Panetta, an executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), proposed banning crypto assets with a significant environmental impact as part of efforts to address risks. In written remarks for the Insight Summit at the London Business School on Dec. 7, Panetta said harmonizing taxation around crypto between global jurisdictions could address some of the energy and environment costs around mining and validation. He added that tokens “deemed to have an excessive ecological footprint should also be banned,” referring to proof-of-work assets in a citation. Panetta added crypto markets were often at risk due to their “incredibly high …

Months after the Ethereum Merge, where the network shifted to the more eco-friendly proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, the Ethereum community is now shifting its focus to redress the network’s former proof-of-work (PoW) carbon emissions since its launch. At the COP27 climate action event, Web3 firms, civil society leaders and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced the formation of the Ethereum Climate Platform (ECP) that aims to counteract the carbon footprint of the Ethereum network since it launched in 2015. Led by software company ConsenSys and climate-focused blockchain firm Allinfra, the founding members of the coalition includes a …