Crypto platform Zumo handed government grant to help make Bitcoin green
UK crypto platform Zumo is pioneering a solution with potential to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin mining has come under fire over the last 12 months after it was claimed the flagship cryptocurrency was consuming the same amount of electricity as countries the size of Ireland or Argentina.
However, Edinburgh-based Zumo and its partner Zero Labs have been handed a government grant to continue research into lowering Bitcoin’s energy consumption.
The crypto firm recently completed its Zero Hero pilot project – a live trial to buy Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs, where 1 REC equals 1 MWh of green electricity) to compensate for the electricity usage of Bitcoin bought via the Zumo app.
Throughout the pilot period, Bitcoin to the value of £1.5 million was covered by Zero Hero REC purchases, with a total of 850 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity compensated via the programme – enough energy to drive an electric vehicle for over three million miles.
For the next stage, Zumo and Zero Labs have been awarded a grant by Innovate UK – the UK’s national innovation agency – to further fund their work on the decarbonisation of crypto.
The RenewableCrypto project will kick off later this month and see both companies working with Zero Labs to find practical ways in which wallets and platforms can scale the use of renewable energy.
The current research argues that REC markets must increase in sophistication and in efficiency if they are to meet the current requirements of net zero strategies. Crucially, it says, crypto as an emerging electricity-focused sector has a unique opportunity to shake up this marketplace and signal a new wave of demand.
“The results of our Zero Hero pilot project are hugely encouraging, showing both what is possible and a significant appetite from customers for clean energy solutions,” explained Kirsteen Harrison, Zumo’s Environmental and Sustainability Adviser.
“But this is just the beginning, and the story can only continue through the collaboration of all market participants – miners, platforms and end users – within the crypto sector. We hope that our new report will help continue to shift the dial from talk towards action.”
“Along with our partners at Zero Labs, we’re aiming to lead this charge and explore new, digital-led solutions that remove practical barriers to voluntary renewables procurement and verifying green credentials. With electricity being the most significant part of crypto’s carbon footprint, we have a unique opportunity as a sector to rapidly decarbonise.”
Doug Miller, co-founder of Zero Labs, said: “Zumo is demonstrating leadership in the Crypto Climate Accord (CCA) community in two ways: leading dialogues about how to estimate the energy use of BTC holdings and procuring clean energy to power Zumo platform customers’ holdings in a verifiable way.
“Zero Labs is thrilled to support Zumo with scaling a solution across its growing customer base to increase demand for clean energy around the globe and convert the wider crypto industry into a newfound source of demand for clean energy in voluntary markets.”
Zero Labs is a tech start-up that enables companies, investors, and individuals to decarbonise their operations, value chains, and daily lives through tokenised renewable energy (i.e., converting cancelled RECs into NFTs) and delivering on-chain and human-readable green proofs.
The Zero Hero results are presented in Zumo’s new report – ‘Decarbonising Crypto: Towards Practical Solutions’. As well as examining the outcomes of the project, the report offers a range of practical takeaways for crypto solution providers encompassing best attribution methodology and best practice approaches to renewable energy procurement.