Summary
Enter VERPA agreement to purchase 16,667 tons from Automated Water Filtration in India, verified via Methodology SDG13 by Gold Standard, through Aither at a price of $14.75 per ton.
Motivation
In the pursuit of expanding our portfolio of high-impact environmental assets, this proposal presents KlimaDAO with a strategic investment in verified water filtration credits. This aligns with our mission to support sustainable projects that offer both ecological benefits and financial returns, while also contributing to the growth of the on-chain carbon ecosystem.
Aither is a pioneering entity in the realm of environmental sustainability and carbon, offering credits from a community-driven water filtration project. These credits are not only a testament to the project's environmental impact but also serve as a beacon of innovation in water resource management. The project is verified by the Gold Standard, ensuring the highest level of integrity and environmental efficacy.
Impact
The Project impacts natural habitats and their surrounding communities across 10 separate Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”)
1) No Poverty (#1)
Mostly women and single mothers are employed, as maintenance is technically not challenging.
2) Good health and well-being (#3)
By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination. Reduced incidence of disease caused by air pollutants. As the Project is inclined to deliver safe drinking water to 100 villages, as an effect of that we reduced the number of visits to primary health centers by 65%. With a large focus on portability and biomass avoidance, the villages will be free of smoke. This is a significant step towards climate action.
3) Gender Equality (#5)
All of the 100 employees for maintaining and securing the sites will be single mothers/women from varied tribal backgrounds. These maintenance schedules including routine cleaning do not require a high level of technical expertise. The intent is to employ women and single-parent mothers to carry out these tasks. This initiative will support 100 families of single mothers and women in the workforce addressing gender equality.
4) Clean Water and Sanitation (#6)
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. Access to improved sources of water and thus the Project provides portable water via auto disinfection and online water quality monitoring.
5) Good Jobs & Economic Growth (#8)
By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. Increased employment opportunities by way of employing 100 individuals to support their families in rural areas.
6) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation (#9)
Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all. The proportion of People who don’t use fossil fuel for Water Purification. Through this Project, we are Developing quality, reliable, Sustainable & resilient infrastructure to support economic development & human well-being.
7) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable (#11)
By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management. Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted). Our Project seeks to diminish the utilization of fossil fuels, thereby playing a role in fostering sustainable cities and communities.
8) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (#12)
By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP. Reduction of Material footprint in terms of reduction in consumption of Fossil fuels is happening which is leading to carbon emission reductions.
9) Climate Action (#13)
Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning. GS SDG 13 allows for project activities to include safe water treatment and/or supply technologies implemented for end-users in households, and/or commercial premises such as shops or institutional premises including half or full-day/boarding schools, prisons, army camps & refugee camps.
10) Life on Land (#15)
Carbon avoidance has a significant impact on local deforestation. Environmental sustainability via biomass avoidance is a significant feature of this project.
Project Considerations
This project uses a next-generation water filtration system that allows for instant water purification and seamless monitoring by way of utilizing the Internet of Things (“IOT”) in conjunction with Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Machine Learning (“ML”).
Utilization of IOT is paramount to this project. There are several parameters from water quality that are coming from 100 villages that would require manual input in the absence of IOT technology. This would entail cumbersome manual data gathering and data entering for 100 villages while undergoing multiple water quality tests. IOT allows for simultaneous and real-time cloud storage of valued parameters for all 100 villages in parallel to avoid manual measurement. Real-time data acquisition is quite important for AI and ML as IOT is sending real-time data to the cloud and ML algorithms are using that information to produce hard-to-measure parameters (s.a. bacteria, pathogens) to filter water instantaneously by way of combined auto chlorination and UV based secondary disinfection. This technology will also allow more expedient and effective scalability by including more villages within the project’s geographic scope.
As such, the current targeted number of villages is set at 100, which will be executed by February 2024, with more than 600 additional villages in the pipeline, 400 of which to be connected by December 2024. Since every 100 villages there is an approximate generation of 150,000 carbon credits, we expect the generation of over 750,000 carbon credits by December 2024. KPMG continues to be the developer’s local consultant and consortium partner. They will continue to represent the developer with rural governments and will be actively involved in the execution of the project’s expansionary plans.
Finally, In an unprecedented move that sets a new standard for transparency and innovation in the carbon credit market, Aither is proud to announce a potential trailblazing cooperation of KlimaDAO with the project developer. This collaboration will see the integration of IoT data directly onto the blockchain, marking a world-first in the sector. This pioneering approach will harness cutting-edge technology to capture and store critical project data such as the volume of filtered water, the number of carbon credits generated, and the extent of village outreach onto an immutable ledger.
This initiative is not just a step but a giant leap forward in environmental project verification, offering an unparalleled level of clarity and trust in the carbon credit generation process. By leveraging IoT technology, KlimaDAO is bridging the gap between physical environmental impact and digital transparency, ensuring that every milestone reached by the project is recorded and verified on the blockchain. This is a game-changer, signaling the dawn of a new era where technology meets sustainability, and where the integrity of environmental projects is enhanced by the incorruptible nature of blockchain technology.
KlimaDAO is at the forefront of this innovative frontier, pioneering the use of blockchain to certify IoT data for carbon credit projects. This not only represents a significant advancement in the carbon market but also showcases the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionize how we validate and celebrate environmental progress. It is a testament to KlimaDAO's commitment to leading the charge towards a more transparent, accountable, and sustainable future.
Project Overview
Summary
The purpose of the grouped project activity entitled “Hygiene and Environmental Care for Tanks and Overhead Reservoirs (HECTOR)” is to provide safe drinking water to households in rural communities of Anantapur District in Andhra Pradesh in India, India. The proposed project activity aims to reduce the use and demand of wood fuel and non-renewable biomass that would have been used to boil the water to purify water in the absence of the proposed project activity, by installing automated chlorination units, UV disinfection while monitoring the water quality online using advanced IoT and AI-ML driven cloud1. This project will also remove reliance on obsolete reverse osmosis machines in rural areas, selling water in 20-liter plastic bottles, with significant carbon and plastic avoidance. The geographical boundary and target are households in rural communities with overhead tank reservoirs that have no definitive chlorination or post-UV disinfections. This project will provide online access via an App to local inhabitants to monitor their water quality online, on their smartphones, and the distributed water will be free of charge to the community. In India, inequalities in access to water between people living in urban and rural areas have remained significant. India’s Jal Jivan Mission (water mission) seeks to provide safe and adequate drinking water to every rural household by 2024. While this program is being implemented the challenges persist in rural villages to receive “safe” drinking water. The current supply infrastructure covers single and multi-village schemes. The former, restricted to one village, usually draws from groundwater or local surface water such as springs or lakes. The latter spans several villages and usually draws from a larger surface water source, such as a river or dam. The water is stored in an underground tank, from where it is pumped to overhead tanks and subsequently distributed to households. Efforts to provide a quantity of water via water taps are being made, there is significant work to be done to ensure safe drinking water for the inhabitants of rural areas. The hygiene of overhead tanks, ad-hoc and manual chlorination together with long reach via tight stairs to intermittently climb and pour chlorine poses significant problems to water quality. Moreover, in the regions where the pH levels of water are relatively high, the effectiveness of ad-hoc chlorination is only marginally effective. This also demands secondary disinfection via UV to ensure pathogen-free water is distributed. Studies reported have shown that, in neighboring villages, the pathogen load in underground water is high which permeates into the distributed water. Rural families continue to boil and post-heat water to drink and cook predominantly to ensure pathogen-free water. Most have no alternative to drinking the pathogen-loaded water unless the water is boiled.
This technology was first implemented on a pilot basis in 5 Salem villages in 2019 mainly to build and validate AI-ML-driven technologies over 4 years. The robustness, repeatability, and reliability of the technology demonstrated over the four years has earned the “approvals by the Jal Jivan Mission” and the committee led by the Principal Scientific Advisor of India. technology. systems and provide the operational and methodological guidelines for the construction, supervision, and maintenance of the same. It is important to note that the dissemination of the technology in rural villages of Tamil Nadu is not possible without approved products and local government consent to carry out these installations. The project is carried out by the government. Order from the district officials who identified villages in which to install this technology. systems and provide the operational and methodological guidelines for the construction, supervision, and maintenance of solutions.
Project Location
The group project will be hosted by two districts in Southern India as a group project. There will be 100 villages in total from two districts of Guntur and Anantapur of the State of Andhra Pradesh. The project was successfully implemented in five rural areas of the Salem district in Tamil Nadu and is now recognized by the Govt of India, Ministry of Water and Sanitation (Jal Jivan Mission) as an approved product.
Technology
The technology solution involves combined auto chlorination and UV-based secondary disinfection in the first instance. These auto disinfections will avoid ad-hoc manual interference and ensure portability. Based on the water quantity the dosage requirements for sodium hypochlorite are determined automatically and are fed into the tanks during the filling cycle. The UV dosages are adjusted with preliminary laboratory tests carried out to identify the pathogen loads. Other minor but significant features are the auto-fill and tank water quantity monitoring, based on level sensors, that will ensure that there is no overfill or loss of water. The IoT-based sensors will monitor water quality for proactive attention and will relay these via App-based analytics. The suite of parameters measured post disinfection online are mandatory 13 parameters as determined by the Jal Jivan Mission and WHO.
Figure above: Flow diagram of the technology used.
One of the key aspects of this technology is the ability to estimate accurately, online, the health and aesthetic parameters that are laboratory intensive as shown below using advanced AI-ML tools. The physical and weather parameters are sent to the cloud via IoT devices for post-processing of health parameters as shown below. This proactive approach has ensured a reduction of up to 60% in visits to primary health centers.
Figure above: AI Used for Monitoring Water Quality
A typical HECTOR project configuration is shown below where the location of UV and auto-chlorination is demonstrated. The overhead tanks are not often cleaned and the secondary disinfection via UV will ensure hygiene of internal tank walls is maintained by eradicating the pathogens. The proprietary UV technology determines what dosages are required for specific pathogen types.
Figure above: Process Flow diagram
The water quality online can be seen via App-driven analytics, conformance to the WHO standards, and any persisting non-compliance. These App-driven analytics are supplied to administrators of the tanks to get proactive attention to any non-compliance.
The project will install technology in Erode and Salem rural communities. According to the applied methodology, the technology applied is identified as Point of Use (POU) which means the system treats only the water intended for direct consumption, typically at a single tap or a limited number of taps.
Figure above: Screenshot of the Application highlighting online quality, quantity, and real-time carbon
Methodology
Methodology GS SDG 13: Methodology for emission reductions from safe drinking water supply. The applied methodology refers to the following tools: Applicable to projects and programs that seek to introduce zero or low GHG water purification systems to provide safe drinking water, this methodology quantifies GHG emissions reductions displaced through decentralized thermal energy technologies. Used in conjunction with the GHG Emissions Reduction & Sequestration Product Requirements, projects and programs applying this methodology may be issued with GSVERs.
Project Media
Figure above: There are community borewells, rivers, and lakes from which the water is pumped into the overhead water storages for subsequent gravity-fed distribution. The water is untreated prior to distribution. Please note that due to animal feces and cattle dung permeating the borewells, the water is high in pathogen loads. A few pictures above show our technology in similar target villages.
Figure above: UV light active in a water tank
Buying Considerations
Purchase of forward contract. Price: $14.75/tonne; 16,667 tonnes available; expected delivery Q3 2024, latest. The project developer will act on his best efforts to deliver the expected credits within the communicated timeframe or earlier. In the event the developer encounters difficulties in delivering the credits where the delay exceeds 6 months, Aither will ensure to provide alternative credits of similar technology to the extent the Buyer requests this in writing.
This is a unique buying opportunity for a project that involves state-of-the-art technology that facilitates the monitoring of water filtration operations and therefore the generated carbon credits. The AI/ML technology allows instantaneous identification and disinfection of bacteria, viruses, and pathogens in the water, mitigating the need for cumbersome and time-intensive lab testing. With its 10 SDGs, the project spearheads the disruption within the current water filtration project industry that is primarily targeting households and remains difficult to monitor. Community water projects including boreholes with rudimental filtration activities are currently priced at similar levels to this project.
As forward purchases offer the acquisition of newer vintages and are generally priced at a discount or at current spot levels to comparatively older vintages, it is arguably an acquisition of better value if the buyer is able to wait for the expected delivery. As more corporates join the VCM market and commence offsetting their annual emission targets, a purchase today of a credit delivered in the future offers the opportunity to pre-empt rising prices and purchase a young credit at better price levels.
Part of the proceeds are distributed back to the community located in the project’s proximity.10 SDGs are expected to be achieved:
1) No Poverty
2) Good Health and well-being
3) Clean Water and Sanitation
4) Good Jobs & Economic Growth
5) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
6) Climate Action
7) Life on Land
8) Responsible Consumption and Production
9) Sustainable Cities and Communities
10) Gender Equality
It fosters multi-scale additionalities involving social and environmental impacts.
Market Outlook
The war in Ukraine and the end of the pandemic caused inflationary price pressures and sudden interest spikes to reconsider corporate acquisitions in the voluntary carbon market space. As corporate leverage recently exceeded pre-financial crisis levels, stark rising rates caused companies to fail to maintain targeted profitability levels. Such stark price and interest rates fluctuations have likely caused a sudden reduction in aspirations for carbon neutrality.
In fact, voluntary carbon markets experienced a demand slump that crept during the majority of 2022 and continued in 2023. This caused average prices to fall by over 50% across certain technologies and geographies. Experts predict corporates and end users are required to recalibrate profitability forecasts that remain aligned to a newly established rising cost environment. Thus, such corporations could be expected to restart climate efforts and VCM-related offsetting investments towards the end of Q2 2024.
We experience a stark shift in buying demand for highly community-inclusive projects with a large quantum of co-benefits and Sustainable Development Goals. This has placed community-based water filtration projects that are considered premium projects with a high degree of co-benefits at the front of corporate’s buying agenda.
Therefore we believe this project to be reflective of current demand trends and also that the current short-term price adaptation suggests a strong buying opportunity for acquiring carbon credits today.
We therefore rate this community water filtration project as a stark buying opportunity due to its premium quality and high SDGs as well as a momentary buying opportunity in a low-price environment.
Co-Benefits
Aither’s history in the carbon market and current efforts to accelerate on-chain carbon adoption make our organization a natural ally to the work that KlimaDAO is undertaking. We believe KlimaDAO’s launch was a watershed moment for the VCM and are hopeful to collaborate with the DAO as we explore pathways to bring our carbon projects toward the digital frontier which is Web3.
As part of this proposal, we pledge to support the launch of liquidity into C3’s new carbon pools via co-marketing activities and by providing a seminar to a large quantum of our 6,000+ existing corporate clients on how digital carbon can be sourced and utilized for their sustainability initiatives.
Key Project Data
Type of Project: Community Water Filtration
Verification: Gold Standard
Annual Credit Generation: 138,689
Crediting Period Duration: 5 years 15/10/2023 - 15/10/2028 with final credits issued in 2029
Other buyers: Corporate End Clients looking to offset in greater magnitude
Financials & Proposal
The project's financial model is built on a foundation of transparency and accountability, with a clear pathway to revenue through the sale of water filtration credits. The robustness of the financial plan is underpinned by:
Cost per ton: $14.75
Total Volume: 16,667 tons
Total Investment: $245,838.25
Delivery: Q3 2024
Polling Period
The polling process commences immediately and once approved by the Klimate Review Committee (KRC), the proposal will progress to a KIP vote and subsequent Snapshot vote. These workstreams will conclude by December 8, 2023.
By endorsing this proposal, KlimaDAO members will not only catalyze the proliferation of sustainable water resources but also fortify our commitment to environmental stewardship and the principles of decentralized impact investment. Your vote in favor is a step towards a more sustainable and equitable future.