Chinese city adopts blockchain to track carbon emissions

Huzhou City in Zhejiang, a province in eastern China, announced the launch of a blockchain to track and record carbon emissions records.

Fast facts

• The blockchain was built by Beijing Zhongdian Puhua Information Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of State Grid. The data will be provided to third-party carbon accounting agencies, governments, and individuals for inquiries and certificates.

• China is seeking to meet a carbon neutrality goal proposed by President Xi, which says the country’s carbon emissions are expected to peak by 2030 and then reduce to reach a goal of carbon neutrality in 2060. Carbon trading is one of the ways to achieve the goal.

• In July, the National Carbon Emissions Exchange was officially launched, which has two centers in Wuhan and Shanghai. This exchange will allow 2,225 power plants to trade carbon emission quotas as an early stage of promoting carbon trading across the country. Blockchain could be an essential infrastructure for carbon trading, and the Tianjin emission exchange has started to embrace the technology, announcing its use of Alibaba’s blockchain called Ant Chain to track carbon emissions for trading.

• In a bid to meet its goal of reducing emissions, China has been banning crypto mining activities. On Sept. 24, China’s Development and Reform Commission released a document with more details on its crackdown on mining farms.