Good sustainability strategy balances tech, use cases

Internal actions on the sustainability roadmap begin with procurement, including green energy and energy-efficient hardware. Companies can then optimize internal operations, including data centers and the value chain, which Sunil said is often where emerging technologies come in.

Blockchain technologies can help measure and monitor supply chain emissions, ensuring data accuracy through smart contracts that authenticate real-time data on carbon emissions. Additionally, IoT technologies and edge computing optimize transportation and logistics operations.

Yet companies must tread carefully because technologies like IoT and blockchain generate their own carbon footprint, he said. Blockchain consumed 0.3% of the global electricity demand in 2020, he noted.

Sukumaran Nair, associate provost for research at Southern Methodist University, said using blockchain for managing sustainability efforts can often eliminate benefits gained due to its high energy consumption. Nair spoke on the panel with Sunil.

Yet technologies like data centers, blockchain and edge computing, which Nair described as “complementary,” shouldn’t be sidelined because of their potential to create additional carbon footprint. He said it’s up to business leaders to balance the technologies’ usage as part of the company’s carbon reduction effort.

“That’s where innovation has to come in,” Nair said.