{"id":16060,"date":"2021-08-06T14:32:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hederav2stg.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/going-carbon-negative-at-hedera-hashgraph\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T04:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:52:00","slug":"going-carbon-negative-at-hedera-hashgraph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hedera.com\/blog\/going-carbon-negative-at-hedera-hashgraph\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Carbon Negative at Hedera Hashgraph"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Public blockchain and distributed ledger technologies have ushered in a new era of the web \u2014 we now have infrastructure that enables programmatic trust in online environments between individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments. Nearly every industry is primed to benefit from this technology, including financial services<\/a>, healthcare<\/a>, social networking<\/a>, supply chain<\/a>, sustainable energy<\/a>, and more. It\u2019s akin to the transformational power of the internet that we\u2019ve seen over the past 25 years.<\/p>\n

Emerging technologies force us to consider the adverse effects they might have on our world if left unchecked. Artificial intelligence, for example, begs for considerations of privacy and surveillance, bias, and moral judgment. Or social networks, which must reckon with the adverse effects on society through misinformation, personal data marketplaces, and surveillance capitalism. With the increased adoption of public distributed ledgers and, more specifically, proof-of-work mining<\/a> currently used by both Bitcoin and Ethereum, the industry is obligated to consider the imminent threat of unsustainable energy consumption and environmental consequences.<\/p>\n

The Hedera network\u2019s underlying technology, the energy-efficient hashgraph<\/a> algorithm and proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, have laid a solid foundation for sustainable network operations<\/a>\u00a0relative to alternative layer 1 networks and even the VISA network. But the Hedera Governing Council recognized that more could be done.<\/p>\n

Hedera has adopted environmental sustainability as a core value and is officially committed to carbon-negative network operations by purchasing carbon offsets quarterly<\/a>*, with amounts determined by the third-party assessment provider Terrapass<\/a>. This decision was made by members of the Hedera Governing Council after careful deliberation, and they are hopeful this decision serves as inspiration for other public networks to adopt sustainable operating practices.<\/p>\n

Calculating quarterly offsets for network operations<\/h4>\n

To offset network operations<\/a>, Hedera purchases “green-e climate certified<\/a>” credits measured in metric tons. By purchasing more metric tons of offsets than the prior quarter, Hedera ensures its carbon-negative status.<\/p>\n

As a tangible example,\u00a0Hedera network operation emissions for Q2 2021 were 20 metric tonnes of CO2.\u00a0According to the EPA\u2019s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator<\/a>, that amount of CO2 is equivalent to 4.3 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles being driven for one year.<\/p>\n

The emissions included in this assessment stem from all public-facing infrastructure, as found on https:\/\/status.hedera.com\/<\/a> as of 08\/05\/2021; this includes:<\/p>\n