Advancing the deployment and information management of direct air capture: A solution enabled by integrating consortium blockchain system

Direct air capture (DAC) is a critical and emerging Negative Emissions Technology (NET) that directly removes CO2 from the atmosphere, significantly contributing to climate change. However, the deployment and management of large-scale DAC faces challenges such as collections and analysis of energy consumption data, intricate device and system management, emission prediction and operation strategy, precise carbon footprint tracking, etc. This paper proposes the integration of blockchain technology with DAC systems to address these challenges, utilizing blockchain's inherent properties of immutability, security, and transparency. The implementation strategy includes the development of a DAC consortium blockchain system, leveraging a consensus mechanism, 1 1 Consensus mechanism: The programming and process used in blockchain systems to achieve distributed agreement about the ledger's state or the state of a data set. (Source: Investopedia) ECDSA encryption, 2 2 Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA): In cryptography, the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) offers a variant of the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) which uses elliptic-curve cryptography. As with elliptic-curve cryptography in general, the bit size of the private key believed to be needed for ECDSA is about twice the size of the security level, in bits. (Source: Wikipedia) IoT 3 3 Internet of things (IoT): describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. (Source: Wikipedia) integration, and digital signatures. Preliminary modeling of the proposed system suggests potential improvements in operational efficiency and a reduction in data inaccuracies. The proposed system underscores the system's ability to streamline identity verification, improve data collection accuracy, and facilitate secure, confidential information sharing among DAC stakeholders. By enhancing the efficiency and reliability of DAC operations, this approach supports the scalable and effective deployment of NETs in the global effort to combat climate change. Future research will focus on empirical validation through pilot projects and simulations to further substantiate these claims.