Algorand Inc., the company behind Algorand Blockchain protocol, has announced a new Blockchain-based initiative in collaboration with PlanetWatch to combat air pollution.
In a press release published on January 24, Algorand Inc. said that this new environmental monitoring energy-efficient blockchain was built to capture, crowd-sourced data to combat air pollution with reward scheme and global ledger.
According to the company, PlanetWatch will build the world’s first immutable air quality ledger utilizing the Algorand blockchain and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies, that will store data collected from air quality sensors onto a Algorand Blockchain and “subsequently reward contributions to the ecosystem by distributing the PLANET token, a utility token, to sensor owners.”
The company said that current air quality methods were not good enough to provide real-time data reporting causing delays in pollution peaks detection and no timely warnings for endangered populations. To address these challenges, PlanetWatch will provide a global network of air quality sensors and environmentally conscious people. The collected will then be validated, filtered, and on the Internet and through a mobile application in real-time.
The collected data will also be arranged on the Algorand Blockchain to create an immutable air quality repository accessible to all participants. All the contributors to the platform will also receive PLANET token in return.
Algorand Inc. claims to have built the world’s first open source, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain protocol for the next generation of financial products called the Algorand protocol. The company aims to revolutionize DeFi by removing friction from financial exchange, building new financial tools, bringing assets on-chain and providing responsible privacy models.
W. Sean Ford, Chief Operating Officer at Algorand, commented:
Algorand’s protocol was built by the team to be energy conscious with minimal processing power needed to achieve consensus in its innovative pure proof-of-stake approach. The eco-friendliness of the Algorand network makes for a natural partnership with PlanetWatch to help global populations access transparent, reliable information about air quality in their locations. Blockchain, in general, receives criticism for high-energy outputs, but with Algorand’s energy efficient network participation, we are working to be a part of environmental solutions from air quality and beyond, and are thrilled to partner with one of the environment’s biggest advocates, PlanetWatch.
PlanetWatch, a high-tech startup based in France, is an advanced data acquisition software developed at CERN, the largest fundamental physics laboratory in the world. With the high-performance yet affordable air quality sensors developed by a major research institute, the company is going to deploy a global air quality network delivering real-time data and building the first global immutable ledger for historical air quality data.
Claudio Parrinello, CEO of PlanetWatch, on this initiative, commented:
The missing link in air quality monitoring is a high-density, low-cost sensor network, delivering real-time data. Historically, air pollution is monitored through large, expensive scientific instruments installed in a small number of locations, with data not being published in real-time. Through Algorand’s highly secure, fast, and energy-efficient protocol, data is recorded onto the blockchain for anyone to access. This data has vast commercial and scientific value as air quality pollution will become more prevalent in the coming decades.
