Blockchain technology for a sustainable sea
A proposal promoted by the UB Chair of Sustainable Blue Economy, sponsored by the company Tecnoambiente, has received one of the awards of the BlockchainxODS challenges, a competition in which university students from different disciplines make teams to address challenges of entities or companies in the territory to fight climate change and promote the good state of the marine ecosystem through the use of blockchain technology. The award has distinguished the proposal to design a web portal to calculate the capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) by the Posidonia oceanica seagrass and thus promote the mitigation of global warming through blockchain technology.
A proposal promoted by the UB Chair of Sustainable Blue Economy, sponsored by the company Tecnoambiente, has received one of the awards of the BlockchainxODS challenges, a competition in which university students from different disciplines make teams to address challenges of entities or companies in the territory to fight climate change and promote the good state of the marine ecosystem through the use of blockchain technology. The award has distinguished the proposal to design a web portal to calculate the capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) by the Posidonia oceanica seagrass and thus promote the mitigation of global warming through blockchain technology.
BlockchainxODS is a project promoted by the Blockchain Centre of Catalonia (CBCat), an entity of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Catalonia that promotes training in blockchain technology and its application in projects focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The awards for the BlockchainxODS challenges, which this year have awarded two teams of university students, were presented on Wednesday 15 November, as part of the event Inspira’t x Digitalitzar-te 2023.
For a blue and more sustainable future
Blockchain technology is a decentralized and secure digital registration system that allows transactions to be stored and verified transparently. Within the framework of the competition, the awarded solution was presented by the Seerenity team, formed by Julia Mendo (UB), Estela Torres (UdG), Agustín Machiavello (Catholic University of Uruguay), Laura Jané (UAB) and Salvador Roig (UPC). The students designed a website portal that connects buyers and sellers of blue carbon certificates through a secure and transparent blockchain. This tool links investors, coastal communities and companies committed to reducing emissions to create an efficient, transparent and more sustainable market.
“The concept of blue economy covers the set of economic activities related to the sea and the coast, together with their social and environmental implications, considering the territorial scope in which they are carried out and the associated relevant infrastructures. The challenges posed by the companies applied blockchain technology to the calculation of CO2 absorption by some marine ecosystems, such as Posidonia seagrass, and the certification and monetization of the captured carbon”, notes Miquel Canals, professor at the Faculty of Earth Sciences and director of the UB Chair on Sustainable Blue Economy.
This year, the SeaTrace tool, promoted by the Submon organization and aimed at facilitating the collection and exchange of traceability data within the fishing industry in Europe, also received an award.
Carles Agustí, director of the BlockchainxODS programme at CBCat, explains: "With these challenges, we not only get students to learn about and train in this revolutionary technology with a sustainable purpose, but we also bring companies and talent into contact, opening up new opportunities for both the university students and the companies that collaborate".
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