Polygon Attains First Sustainability Milestone, Bentley to Leverage Polygon for Its Genesis NFT Collection

Leading Ethereum scaler, Polygon on Tuesday revealed it had completed the first milestone of its long-term sustainability goal. The blockchain ecosystem retired $400,000 in carbon credits to even out and neutralize its total greenhouse emission volume of 104,794 tons since it went live.

Carbon neutrality isn't the end goal; Polygon wants to become carbon negative

In an official statement, the platform lauded the use of blockchain technology in offsetting carbon as particularly effective since there's full transparency in the process. The technology enables firms and entities to purchase the offsets themselves, track market data, and allow quick financing of projects that are highly impactful on carbon worldwide.

Polygon said that it had done its part in ensuring all activities, whether in decentralized finance or to do with its tokens, are logged and effectively offset based on their impact on the environment. The achievement follows Polygon's April presentation of its Green Manifesto advocating for sustainability. Polygon promised to inject $20 million into projects using Web3 to create a sustainable future with fresh approaches to retiring on-chain carbon credits.

Polygon and KlimaDAO

KlimaDAO facilitated the process of Polygon becoming carbon neutral by assisting in analyzing and computing the chain's footprint. The scope was restricted to hardware, energy requirements in staking, and smart contracts accessing the Ethereum mainnet to determine the areas with the highest emissions. KlimaDAO's offset aggregator feature enabled Polygon to buy $400,000 worth of carbon credit.

The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA), a critical industry organization that establishes best practices and ensures integrity and transparency in the carbon market, has approved the Verified Carbon Standard as one of several independent standards. Both BCT and MCO2 tokenized credits were developed from offsets credentialed under this standard.

The two entities have also completed independent initiatives, including the Bull Run Forest Conservation project in Belize. The two also created a wind power project in Jaibhim, India which mitigates as much as 53,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Further, a 500-megawatt renewable electricity generation project in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India, the Ghani Solar Power Project, is projected to offset 887,800 tons of greenhouse gases annually over the next decade.

KlimaDAO's personnel include experts, developers, entrepreneurs, and environmentalists, who collaborate to increase access and demand for carbon offsets while making pro-climate projects profitable and forcing companies to adapt more quickly to the realities of climate change.

Polygon's environmentally conscious efforts

Polygon continues doing its bit towards sustainability to demystify the belief that blockchain technology is mostly harmful to the environment. The blockchain firm is set to host The Green Blockchain Summit for leaders in the Web3 space next month (July 13) to discuss the most urgent environmental concerns in the blockchain space.

Bentley adds to the list of firms hosting NFT collections on Polygon

British luxury carmaker Bentley yesterday shared details of its genesis exclusive NFT collection minted on Polygon, set to be released in September. The car manufacturer will leverage the scaling solution's sustainable and fee-friendly infrastructure for the one-time NFT drop limited to only 208 pieces.

The number 208 bears ‘special relevance' to the automaker

The figure represents the top speed of Bentley's Continental GT Speed, the fastest in the GT range, as well as the total production volume of the '52 R-Type Continental, which heavily influenced the designs Bentley adopted for its car units afterward. Holders of the genesis Bentley NFTs will enjoy special access and rewards as perks.

The project marks the car manufacturer's entry into the NFT space. Bentley joins a list with other brands like Adidas, Prada, Bulgari and Dolce & Gabbana that have released NFT projects in their niches on the Ethereum scaler platform. Bentley highlighted Polygon's carbon-neutral status and commitment to become carbon-negative this year as reasons that influenced the choice of Polygon as the chain where the NFTs will be minted.

Aligning long-term objectives

By minting on the chain, Bentley sets its production timeline in sync with Polygon's sustainability plan. The latter intends to introduce end-to-end carbon neutrality before 2030, around the same time the automaker wants to manufacture battery EVs solely. Bentley described the venture as the beginning of its broader entry into Web3 over the long haul with Polygon as a partner hence why it was done in a ‘sustainable' manner.

To learn more about Polygon visit our Investing in Polygon guide.