Following a successful pilot, Edinburgh-based cryptocurrency platform Zumo has received government funding to continue its work on decarbonising crypto.
Zumo's Zero Hero pilot project saw the acquisition of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) to compensate for the electricity usage of bitcoin bought via its app.
Over the pilot period, bitcoin to the value of £1.5 million has been covered by Zero Hero REC purchases, with a total of 850 megawatt-hours of electricity compensated via the programme - enough energy to drive an electric vehicle for over three million miles.
Now, Zumo and its partner Zero Labs have been awarded a grant by Innovate UK to further fund research into the decarbonisation of crypto. The RenewableCrypto project will kick off later this month and see the partners look to find practical ways in which wallets and platforms can scale the use of renewable energy.
Kirsteen Harrison, environmental and sustainability adviser, Zumo, says: "The results of our Zero Hero pilot project are hugely encouraging, showing both what is possible and a significant appetite from customers for clean energy solutions."
Read Zumo's report on its pilot here