FAQs

No, there is still lots of work to be done. For one, the GHG (greenhouse gas) emission maps based on satellite imagery are still a couple of years away.

Good question... more than one reason:

1. To finance the minting of all the incentives there needs to be some infusion of funds and demand for the currency itself. Blockchain based cryptocurrency is a proven mechanism to create such an with upwards valuation. What's often missing in cryptocurrency, as stated by Paul Krugman, is: what problem is it solving? In the case of earthkroner the answer is very clear, it's providing an alternative carbon economy with in inherent drive towards lowering emissions.

2. NFT (non-fungible tokens) is a convenient vehicle for handling the contracts.

3. Implementing earthkroner as a cryptocurrency accelerates the development cycle since open-source blockchain code can be re-used, as well as an ecosystem of wallets and NFT exchanges etc.

4. Cryptocurrencies naturally operates on a global level, across nation boundaries, just like climate change.

5. Crypto is (still a little bit?) cool.

Absolutely. With a centralized, trusted operator, earthkroner will be cheap and fast to use since it doesn't rely on proof of work. Also, the objective will be to maintain a stable currency value, (loosely) tethered to the pricing of carbon, which will likely rise over time but not fluctuate in the short term. To accomplish this the operating organization will mint and sell new coin when demand is high and buy back coin when the demand is low. A bit like a central bank.

The core component of earthkroner is to rely on satellite-based gridded map of GHG emissions. So far, this hasn't been available to the carbon trading industry, so instead the verification of carbon emissions has to rely on more indirect measurements and assessments. This can be inaccurate, it often leads to claims of greenwashing, and makes the system harder to trust.

By measuring GHG concentrations from satellites, sampled along lines between the satellite and the ground, new datasets are being generated continuously. However, there is still more computation to be done to determine where and how much emissions are released across the Earth's surface. What goes into these computations is similar to weather forecasting models, the flow of air at the different heights needs to be estimated. Several teams, commercial and government funded are working on this at the moment.

There will be more than one company/organization providing this. But yeah, this is a bit of a crux.

It is important that there will be multiple key stakeholders governing the currency with 1) actual money/stake invested in the currency, and 2) (at least for some of the core actors) a stated interest in counteracting global warming. In other words, wealthy investors and organizations interested in doing something for the climate while also safeguarding their investors.

From the start of the minting, the ICO (initial coin offering), the coin must be purchased by the fixed price. And the same for the later offerings. Most of the funds received in these transactions will be held in a fund and will be available as a reserve in times of lower demand for the coin. Initial stakeholders will shoulder the largest risk in such a bank run and will act responsibly to project trust, confidence and transparency.

The ICO will sell as many coins as there is demand at a fixed price, ensuring equal access for all world citizens.

Two reasons for this: 1) We don't want to create the possibility of placing a miniscule amount, some fraction of a coin, on a pixel that has received no other bets and then reap the full amount of new coin, i.e. the number of tons CO2e reduced in earthkroner. A related reason is 2) that if the case of emission increase the bettor would owe more coin than they put into the contract (leverage). If bettor seeks such leverage they can still partner with an entity that adds coin for leverage but does not want the risk exposure.

Point sources makes sense for many industrial applications, for example to track methane leaks, or landfills. But using a gridded map is a more general approach and works well for urban areas, forest and agriculture. Getting away from the need to identify the responsible party, and instead creating opportunity for reductions everywhere is a key objective of earthkroner.