Natalia Welzenbach-Marcu | May 29th, 2018

If energy farms used to power blockchain projects–an essential format for distributing cryptocurrency–switch to renewable resources, the impact on the environment would be significant.

“Blockchain” refers to a revolutionary form of technology that was pioneered by the person (or group of people) operating under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It essentially allows information to be distributed, but prevents it from being copied, making it a perfect vehicle for digital currencies like Bitcoin and essentially acting as a way to prevent counterfeit.

“Mining” for cryptocurrency involves centers with a lot of computers processing tons of  data. These mining centers use a lot of electricity, and most are powered by fossil-fuel resources.

This is where organizations like GEAR step in to fix the problem. GEAR describes itself as “the world’s first closed loop Green Energy and Renewables-focused network.” The group’s vice-president, Vik Panthak, explains that the organization’s main goal is to take a traditionally dirty industry (such as data-mining or blockchaining) and find ways to power these practices with green energy, in the hope that this new model reduces the damage of constant fossil fuels.

As the future of digital currency draws near, Vik hopes that GEAR will pave the way for other digital currency companies and encourage them to go green, before it’s to late.