There are more than 900,000 active gas and oil wells in the United States, according to Drillinginfo. Unfortunately, recycling and cleaning the contaminated water has not been an option, with companies typically transporting the produced and flowback water in barrels to underground disposal well facilities.
That is until now.
U.S.-based Genesis Research & Technology Group has developed, tested and patented a new water purification technology system that can be utilized for multiple applications, including oil and gas, industrial, food and agriculture, humanitarian efforts, and emergency and disaster relief. And in partnership with blockchain development company MVP Asia Pacific Inc., they are creating an Internet of Things (IoT) water quality sensor to permanently store tamper-proof water quality records on the Ethereum blockchain.
The IoT sensor system has safeguards in place to ensure that the readings aren’t manipulated. Genesis will also operate under an independent auditing system enabling third-party-approved access to make sure no one alters the sensors. The IoT sensor aims to reduce the carbon footprint associated with unnecessary transportation, and to enable unusable water to become usable again. Over a three-year period, Genesis has shown proven results that up to 2,000 barrels of fracking water can be treated on-site without chemicals into clean water
“A Genesis water recycling system will allow oil producers to be friendlier to the earth’s environment, conserving water, not exposing the roads and countryside to the millions of trucking miles necessary to transport water, and not dispos[ing] of millions of gallons of contaminated water in the ground,” said Ron Price, CEO of Genesis Research & Technology Group, to Bitcoin Magazine.
By combining the Genesis water treatment system with the blockchain via the IoT solution, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and communities around the world can have confidence that the information they see is real, readily accessible and verifiable, said Price. This in turn will make the fracking industry more transparent, discouraging wasteful and environmentally unfriendly practices. It’s also hoped that this will provide an incentive to companies who may be rewarded by consumers and governments to promote excellence.
According to Darren McVean, CEO of MVP Asia Pacific, blockchain technology presents huge potential for the environmental and land rehabilitation sectors.
“In the past, governments and community groups have had limited to no access to land, water and air quality records,” McVean said. “As a result, few have confidence in the records and this has stifled investment in environmentally friendly technology.”
Genesis will be launching their ICO on October 27, where there will be a maximum of 40,000,000 Water Tokens available. Genesis hopes to have their first system operational and generating revenue within six months after the closing of the ICO. They plan to have 12 systems up and running within nine months after the ICO.