Ripple and Nelnet have made a joint investment of $44 million in one of Nelnet’s solar energy funds, the two companies announced today. The initiative is aimed at funding solar energy projects throughout the U.S. In the tie up, Ripple will be the majority investor.
The companies added that the solar projects they will be financing jointly will offset more than 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, emitted over a period of 35 years. The emissions correspond to the consumption of gas in that time, which is estimated to be around 154 million gallons.
Ken Weber, Head of Social Impact at Ripple, commented:
Guaranteeing a clean energy future is a major priority across every industry, not only to drive future economic growth but also to ensure a more sustainable world. As the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain continues to grow, it’s evident that the technology will underpin our future financial systems. We’re excited to work with Nelnet as we pursue our commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of financial services globally and to deliver on the promise of a carbon negative cryptocurrency industry.
Ripple is part of the Crypto Climate Accord
This isn’t Ripple’s first partnership with a focus on environmental protection. The crypto company is part of the Crypto Climate Accord along with CoinShares and ConsenSys, an initiative aimed at enabling the crypto industry to start using exclusively renewable energy in 2025.
The Accord aims to eliminate all carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions for the entire industry. It is also seeking to develop an open-source standard, according to which it can measure appropriate emissions to be adopted throughout the industry.
Grid decarbonization project launched with Ripple’s support
Nonprofit Energy Web introduced a project to decarbonize the grid last year. Ripple was its first partner. Their support was aimed at opening the door to blockchains like Bitcoin, whose operations are far more energy-intensive, said Jesse Morris, Energy Web’s CCO, adding:
Blockchains are a massive energy hog and a lot of that electricity is not coming from wind, solar, hydro or other sustainable facilities. So, we have been thinking for a while now about how we could help the crypto industry decarbonize blockchains, given the distributed nature of the technology.
To achieve blockchain decarbonization, Energy Web released an open-source app called EW Zero that makes it easy for ecosystems, businesses, and individuals to transition to carbon free operation. Ripple and Energy Web said the app used energy attribute certificates (EACs) from renewable energy sources to this end.
