This is a 160 page deck outlining the realities of our environmental plight, and analysing how a specific blockchain technology approach could take 5% or 10% off our global environmental footprint while also supporting certain key sustainable development goals.
High Profile Escort in Abu Dhabi 0524076003 Abu Dhabi Escorts
The Mattereum Big Deck
1. We aren’t just here to change the world, we’re here to fix it
1
This is a 160 page deck outlining the realities of our environmental plight, and analysing how
a specific blockchain technology approach could take 5% or 10% off our global
environmental footprint while also supporting certain key sustainable development goals.
2. second public release: proof of concept
deck should be read full-screen
because it relies on slides being built
across several pages. very confusing if
you try to scroll through it.
a few todo pages are in comic sans
2
4. Earth soaks up 16 gigatons of CO2 per year.
16 gigatons divided by 8 billion people is 2 tons.
2 tons of CO2 per person per year is safe.
Average Americans emit 17 tons of CO2 per year,
nearly 8 times the sustainable personal CO2 limit.
4
6. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
The climate-development disaster
Rural poor become urban rich, destroying the world in the process.
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
INCREDIBLY BAD WORLD DESTROYING MACROTREND
6
7. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
Remember, sustainable means
2 tons of CO2 per person per year, or
16 gigatons for the entire planet.
7
8. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
The only “development path” we offer vastly
increases CO2, destroying the future.
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
8
9. rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
In 1900 the world output only 3gt of CO2 per
year. Now cities alone produce 30gt annually.
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
3gt
30gt
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
9
10. rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
In 1900 the world output only 3gt of CO2 per
year. Now cities alone produce 30gt annually.
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
3gt
30gt
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH
Remember, sustainable means
2 tons of CO2 per person per year, or
16 gigatons for the entire planet.
10
11. rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
People flow from the villages to the cities,
from poverty to wealth, but CO2 climbs too.
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
3gt 40gtDEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH
11
12. Every path we have out of
poverty massively increases
people’s resource consumption.
Outlying exceptions:
Cuba (2.5 tons),
Kerala (under 1 ton per capita).
12
13. More or less the entire human population is
trapped in either poverty or climate destruction.
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH
rural urban
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2
slum
development13
14. One ton of CO2 per human per year adds
8 gigatons to our CO2 load.
The earth soaks up 16 gigatons per year. Every ton above
this trashes the future. 2 tons per year each is safe.
Our current emissions are 40 gigatons per year.
Roughly 24 gigatons per year over our safe CO2 budget.
Once we emit a few hundred excess gigatons of CO2
above our 16gt per year, we break the climate.
Less that 10 years at current rates.
14
15. todo: a proper chart of
personal carbon emissions,
time, and expected level of
climate change.
15
16. Right now we are betting the future of the planet
on an as-yet-unproven Bright Green Urbanism
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2 flooded, burning poor cities
2050
rural urban
drought and agricultural collapse
we are
saved
only if
this exists
MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
poorrich
16
18. What does it look like?
• Cheap solar energy all year
• Probably needs superconductors
• Self driving cars as fleet vehicles
• Pretty much the whole world
lives in green cities
• Circular economy
• Doughnut economics squares
environmental and social footprints
Bright Green Urbanism
18
19. Steering a middle path?
• The better your technology is,
the more social good you can
have while remaining within your
ecological ceiling
• Geoengineering also increases
your ecological ceiling.
• It’s not clear how much room
there really is for a “regenerative
and distributive economy” but
Kerala and Cuba show options.
Doughnut Economics
19
20. • Massive movement to the cities
The trend lines which fuel
Bright Green Urbanism
20
21. • Massive movement to the cities
• Reduced CO2 per dollar of GDP
The trend lines which fuel
Bright Green Urbanism
21
22. • Massive movement to the cities
• Reduced CO2 per dollar of GDP
• Radical improvements in solar
The trend lines which fuel
Bright Green Urbanism
22
23. • Massive movement to the cities
• Reduced CO2 per dollar of GDP
• Radical improvements in solar
• Plunging global birth rates
The trend lines which fuel
Bright Green Urbanism
23
24. • Massive movement to the cities
• Reduced CO2 per dollar of GDP
• Radical improvements in solar
• Plunging global birth rates
• Seriously plunging birth rates in
the wealthiest countries
The trend lines which fuel
Bright Green Urbanism
24
25. • Massive movement to the cities
• Reduced CO2 per dollar of GDP
• Radical improvements in solar
• Plunging global birth rates
• Seriously plunging birth rates in
the wealthiest countries
All great then?
25
29. Poor countries are close to sustainable
Remember, sustainable means
2 tons of CO2 per person per year, or
16 gigatons for the entire planet.
Everything this text block covers up is
over consuming.
29
30. All great then? Unfortunately not quite yet…
this is a problem
NOPE
just these ones just these ones
30
31. To work, Bright Green Urbanism requires close to
ten-fold improvements in CO2 per unit of lifestyle benefit
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2 flooded, burning poor cities
2050
rural urban
drought and agricultural collapse
we are
saved
only if
this exists
MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
poorrich
X
31
33. Here are cities. Let’s draw a line through
them at two tons of CO2 per person per year
33
34. When people think Green Urbanism, they
aren’t thinking Kolkata and Manila mostly
Two tons per capita: all the cities above this line are unsustainable
34
35. Radical improvements in environmental
efficiency (2x) get us a bit closer… but not close
Say we find a way to half CO2 use: this is better, but 2x is a hard push…
35
36. A 10x efficiency boost would make most of
the world’s key cities sustainable.
How
the
helldo
w
e
getto
10X?
36
37. • Started in 2010
• Integrative Design
• Whole Systems Thinking on
steroids for manufacturing
• Great early work
• But we do not have a feasible
path to this 10XE world yet.
Rocky Mountain Institute
10XE made a start on this
kind of resource efficiency
37
38. • Probably the best attempt to actually
design a Doughnut Economy is Lester
Brown’s “Plan B”.
• Plan B involves a lot of rice and beans,
and recycling, and tree planting.
• I think the numbers are broadly-
speaking pretty reasonable.
• I don’t know why Plan B isn’t much,
much more widely known.
• Even at 40gt we are probably doing 10%
of the social good we need to do in this
world. 10XE social good per unit CO2.
What is the real space
available to humanity in the
Doughnut Economy?
40gt
16gt
38
39. • Yes, eventually. But when?
• The odds are high that we will hit
planetary buffers long before the last
coal fired power plant is turned off.
• No doubt in my mind that a “Manhattan
Project” on solar is the keystone of
sustainability.
• But the global middle class’s insatiable
appetite for stuff will still cause massive
environmental problems in all scenarios.
• Addressing the stuff problem helps.
Can’t we fix all this
with cheap solar?
39
40. todo: need to explain
geoengineering
specifically reversibility vs.
permanent options
40
42. Let’s look at
the Lean Green
option
Convergence on a low-burn Lean Green Urbanism
42
43. • The history is incredibly complex
• The society is agrarian, but with
excellent education and health care
• Demographics look like Europe
• CARBON NEGATIVE SOCIETY (-.5t)
• 75 year life expectancy (same as
Arkansas, Hungary, Fujian)
• 96% literacy rate (same as Macedonia,
better than any American state)
10XE is far away.
Kerala works today!
43
44. • By any reasonable standard, Kerala
looks like a wealthy society, except…
• Kerala’s GDP per capita is $10 a day
• A sane global poverty line is $7.40 a day
(not $1.90) - they’re just 25% above it
• Concepts like “human development
index” attempt to capture this concept
• Kerala scores .78 (Mexico, Georgia) but
on a third or less of the money
• And carbon negative…
Separate Wealth from
Money to see clearly
44
45. • Modelled on Amory Lovin’s
Soft Energy Path (1976)
• A high-tech, low-impact well-
organised alternative to Bright
Green Urbanisation
• Good evidence it can work, but
maybe dependent on culture
• An excellent fit for ultra-cheap
solar panels and “small farm”
high yield agriculture
Introducing the
“Soft Development Path”
45
47. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
around 10 tons
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
Practically no money has gone into “soft
development path” approaches in 50 years
SOFTDEVELOPMENT
X
47
48. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
2 tons?
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
Practically no money has gone into “soft
development path” approaches in 50 years
SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
X
48
49. rural urban
100m
rural rich
below 2 tons
50 million
urban rich
below 5 tons
1300 million
rural poor
close to zero
150 million
urban poor
below 1 ton
Data is hard to find this far back - emissions were negligible
rural urban
500 million
rural rich
2 tons?
3000 million
urban rich
around 10 tons
3500 million
rural poor
below 2 tons
1000 million
urban poor
below 3 tons
CO2 per capita and population numbers both approximate
poorrich
poorrich
1900 2020
MASSIVE RURAL POPULATION GROWTH DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
Americans are flooding to “Zoom Towns” as
commuting is taken out by covid
SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
XMaybe also for us?
49
50. MAYBE Offgrid Tiny House Suburbs
MAYBE Nukes and Geoeng “BLIGHT Green”
Urban Rich “problem children”
may have other options…
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2
2050
rural urban
less
Bright
Green
Urbanism
MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
poorrich
eco-
favelas and
downshifted
suburbs
nuclear
green and
geoeng
Convergence on a low-burn Lean Green Urbanism
50
51. But a Lean Green future seems more likely
than a Bright Green Urbanism global solution
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2
2050
rural urban
some
Bright
Green
Urbanism
MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
poorrich
rural
resource-rich
but still cash
poor
RURAL SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
eco-
favelas?
can we do
better?
URBAN SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
51
53. todo: also going to need to
explain what appropriate
technology is, but also why
Schumacher is wrong.
53
54. Before we wade into the
new plan, let’s review the
first major intervention I
did on climate change.
54
55. (these are not architectural renderings, these are all real
buildings people made from my Open Source plans)
• 1995 I spent 6 months working with folks
from Stephen Gaskin’s Farm in TN on
zero-waste geodesic domes.
• 2002 the RMI Sustainable Settlements
Charrette asks for a shelter which can be
folded up and reused when refugees are
resettled.
• The goal becomes to reshelter the
hundreds of million climate refugees we
are expecting, using industrial materials.
• I start a 30 year project to get the job
done: Open Source plans plus common
industrial materials equals shelter magic.
My climate journey started with by
designing a shelter for refugees
55
56. (these are not architectural renderings, these are all real
buildings people made from my Open Source plans)
• Hexayurts spread over Burning Man:
20% or so of 70,000 people.
• People build their own units,
thousands per year.
• Half a dozen commercial
manufacturers (small scale.)
• Second-generation hexayurts, called
ShiftPods, get real scale.
• Easy to build, all materials in the
commercial supply chain, hundreds
of builders, documenters, innovators.
That first project is broadly-
speaking on track (over decades)
56
this is real
57. (these are not architectural renderings)
• UN provides tents (6 month life)
to refugee camps (average stay
17 years).
• Local manufacturing and
deployment end-run around
bureaucratic wilful blindness.
• I have no doubt there will be
dozens of large hexayurt cities
within 10 years, right on the 30
year schedule I laid out in 2002.
Formerly homeless Americans live
in hexayurts today in LA.
this is real
57
60. Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps is a design language for (refugee) cities
people
groups
orgs
states
60
injury
hunger
toohot
thirstillness
toocold
person
home
village
town
region
country
world
the
individual
home
hospital
sewage
plant
toilet
police
military
food
mkts
food
shops
kitchen
stores
cooking
heating
power
station
water
plant
tap
water
energy
mkts
fuel
mkts
cooling
shared
plan
shared
succession
model
shared
map
jurisdiction
territory
effective
organizations
citizens
international
recognition
communications
transportation
space
resource
control
the
group
61. MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
Cheap mass manufactured ecological long
term refugee and general purpose housing
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
poverty
huge
CO2
2050
rural urban
we are
saved
only if
this exists
poorrich
Xflooded, burning poor cities
drought and agricultural collapse
61
62. MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
drought and agricultural collapse
It does not matter much whether the ecologically sound
homes are built in crisis or hope - it’s the same technology
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
huge
CO2
2050
rural urban
we are
saved
only if
this exists
poorrich
Xpoverty
62
Convergence on a low-burn Lean Green Urbanism
MAYBE Offgrid Tiny House Suburbs
63. MAYBE Bright Green Urbanism
drought and agricultural collapse
Cheap, durable, ecological housing changes
our whole environmental and economic outlook
poorrich
2020
DEVELOPM
ENT
DISASTER
rural urban
huge
CO2
2050
rural urban
we are
saved
only if
this exists
poorrich
Xpoverty
63
THE SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
THE SOFT DEVELOPMENT PATH
$1500
64. 64
$1500
• Can be mass produced
without any copyright or
patent licence: the design
is fully public domain.
• Can be manufactured
from almost any industrial
sheet goods requiring
only a table saw.
• Even if you gold plate
this it’s less than $5,000.
• Add additional smaller
hexayurt as bedrooms
or private offices.
• Panels can be reused in
other buildings, the
shapes are all the
same.
• The mortgage is
obsolete. The 2008
crisis need never
happen again.
Behold the Hexayurt Quaddome
65. (these are not architectural renderings)
• $350 of materials for a building which will
last for years. Easy volunteer build. Simple.
• Costs about the same as a disaster
relief tent for initial purchase, but lasts
5x+ as long: much cheaper in the long
run.
• $100 for a solar charger, light, fan, and
battery for basic services.
• We are pretty much ready for the
climate refugees. It’s just like this, but a
lot more units.
• And, really, only we appear to be ready.
A small project in LA
this is real
homeless in LA
65
66. We have developed most of the
tools required to rehome hundreds
of millions of people affordably.
Not just artefacts but living systems.
Not an architectural rending. This is a photograph.
66
72. Cornucopian Optimised Production Systems
Over the past 70 years, statistical and algorithmic optimisation have transformed
Investment and Production systems…
72
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
Total Quality Management
Statistical Process Control
Six Sigma
Quantitative
Finance
Revolution
Targeted
Advertising
1950s1980s
2000s
73. Over the past 70 years, statistical and algorithmic optimisation have transformed
Investment and Production systems… but Consumption and Waste remain chaotic
73
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
Destructive Chaotic Consumption System
No data to perform
optimisation on yet.
No data to perform
optimisation on yet.
Total Quality Management
Statistical Process Control
Six Sigma
Quantitative
Finance
Revolution
Targeted
Advertising
1950s1980s
2000s
Cornucopian Optimised Production Systems
74. A Lean Green Economy has to bring
statistical process control to Consumption and Waste processes
74
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
The time has come to build a Lean Green Economy
Gather statistical
insights into
Consumption
patterns.
Use data to correctly
value and direct
Waste streams into
revenue streams.
Total Quality Management
Statistical Process Control
Six Sigma
Quantitative
Finance
Revolution
Targeted
Advertising
1950s1980s
2000s
2020s 2020s
75. Let’s map the loops, then get all the missing data
75
76. Investment generates returns on investment
76
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
return on investment key:
assets
trade
money
harm
77. Recycling and coproduction reclaim value
77
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
return on investment
recycling
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
78. Generating a return on investment inevitably generates waste
78
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
return on investment
recycling
Capital Resources The Marketplace
Unintended
Consequences
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
79. Capital
Resources
Waste depletes our capital resources over time
79
ProductionInvestment Consumption Waste
return on investment
recycling
Capital Resources The Marketplace
Unintended
Consequences
capital depletion
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
80. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
80
and make coproducts visible
81. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Investment of Financial and
Natural Capital creates Production
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
81
investment
ecosystem
services
82. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Production fuels Consumption
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
82
investment
ecosystem
services
83. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Consumption generates a
return on investment
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
83
ecosystem
services
84. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Production creates Waste.
Consumption creates Waste.
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
84
ecosystem
services
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
85. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Waste is recycled
or sold as coproducts
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
85
ecosystem
services
technical
nutrients
products
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
86. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Waste depletes capital
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
86
ecosystem
services
reduced
profits
technical
nutrients
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
products
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
87. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Pollution and so on deplete
Natural Capital
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
87
ecosystem
services
reduced
profits
pollution
technical
nutrients
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
products
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
88. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Financial Capital can be
reinvested in Nature.
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
88
ecosystem
services
reduced
profits
pollution
reinvestment
technical
nutrients
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
products
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
89. Now let’s add in Natural Capital
TheMarketplace
Coproducts can also
regenerate nature.
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
89
ecosystem
services
reduced
profits
pollution
reinvestment
biological
nutrients
technical
nutrients
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
products
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
91. • “You know it is a whole system
if the costs show up on one
balance sheet, and the benefits
show up on another.”
• There is no balance sheet for
nature.
• So how could we expect
business to account for it?
• Of course business externalises
costs.
• How could it not?
• Ok, let’s get back to it!
Two personal notes: (2)
Gupta’s Law of Whole Systems
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
reinvestment
inefficiency
products
investment
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
ecosystem
services
returnon
investment
reuse
re/upcycling
reduced
profits
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
91
93. How today’s
economy is
• We are drawing down
ecosystem services, i.e.
Capitalism’s interface to
Nature, so fast Nature is
dying.
• Our entire economy just
bleeds energy and raw
materials.
• Plus global capitalism
keeps going bankrupt.
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
reinvestment
products
investment
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
ecosystem
services
returnon
investment
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
93
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
reduced
profits
94. • In an optimised future, all waste
steams will have been thinned out
as far as is ecologically necessary.
• Most of this waste can be
prevented or recovered if
people will only think.
• The resulting lean green economy
is more profitable, and puts a lot
of resources back into nature.
• The point of maximum profitability
is the point of maximum efficiency,
if externalities are counted at all.
How tomorrow’s
economy must be
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
investment
ecosystem
services
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
returnon
investment
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
reduced
profits
products
reuse
re/upcycling
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
reinvestment
94
95. 95
What went wrong:
messy industrial
bootstrap
• THIS WAS ALL BUILT ON COAL.
• These systems were never planned
or designed, and still aren’t. It’s
just what grew in the economy
before we hit ecological limits.
• All we can hope to do is reshape
the incentive landscape to
transition to a sustainable
economy.
• Hopefully radical legislation is
coming to help us soon.
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
reinvestment
products
investment
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
ecosystem
services
returnon
investment
reuse
re/upcycling
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
inefficiency
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
reduced
profits
96. What went wrong:
divided guardians
• The systems which should be
protecting the efficiency of the entire
economy in both financial and
environmental terms DO NOT EXIST.
• Instead we have a patchwork, mostly
made of holes, and financial and
environmental regulators exist in
different universes.
• We have to pull financial data and
impact data into the same
databases so that we can optimise.
• How do we get a little closer to the
10XE transformation, to make
room for a better life for all?
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
reinvestment
inefficiency
products
investment
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
ecosystem
services
returnon
investment
reuse
re/upcycling
reduced
profits
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
audit
the
EPA
?
efficiency
regulations
?
recycling
laws
? audit
?
?
96
97. • The IT systems used by industry are
archaic: there’s just nowhere in the
databases to put the information on
environmental factors.
• Or social factors.
• Or really anything other than how
much it costs.
• Audit post-facto is super expensive
and stupidly hard to get right (see triple
entry book keeping and triple bottom line
accounting for more info on this).
• Lean manufacturing etc. have done
fantastic work using computers to
streamline production: let’s build on
those modernised systems.
How do we fix it?
Integrated product
information markets
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
reinvestment
inefficiency
products
investment
inefficiency
end-of-life
pollution
technical
nutrients
biological
nutrients
ecosystem
services
returnon
investment
reuse
re/upcycling
reduced
profits
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
audit
the
EPA
?
efficiency
regulations
?
recycling
laws
? audit
?
? fully
integrate
financial and
ecological
data
97
98. utility
expert
seller buyer
compliance
expert
identity
expert
goods
ecology
expert
• As you will discover in the next section,
Mattereum has discovered a scalable
business opportunity to build product
information markets using the blockchain.
• First for authenticity, addressing
$2 trillion of consumer fraud, and
• in parallel, markets for ecological and
social impact information.
• Both on the same technology platform,
for the same assets.
• This is how we start integrating the
databases to build a Lean Green world.
About product
information markets
98
99. Yes, we know, hear me out…
• If you want to use computers, you’ve got two
choices:
• FAANGBAT companies run everything, or
• Do it on a blockchain.
• So if you want the global environmental
management system run by a single
corporation, go right ahead.
• But, actually, the world’s governments will
insist on local data sovereignty, so we aren’t
running all of this from California.
• It has to be a blockchain.
• Vitalik does good work.
Blockchain? Ugh.
99
101. So very seriously, not today’s blockchain.
• Today’s blockchain systems are roughly
where the Web was in 1987, or Mobile
was in 1994.
• They’re toy systems printing toy money
compared to what we are going to need
for a global environmental management
system.
• We have to start building the businesses
now so that we can shape and integrate
into those technology platforms as they
arise.
• This is too important to be a passenger
on the ride: we need to lead.
Not today’s blockchain
101
102. • Vinay Gupta’s work in cryptography starts in the
mid-90s. He ran the Ethereum blockchain launch.
• Mattereum has roots going back decades in
technical, legal and environmental understanding.
• He did a stint on cryptographic applications
research for the US Office of the Secretary of
Defense, worked on the Dubai Blockchain Strategy,
and of course helped launch Ethereum in a pretty
responsible role.
• Years in energy policy, defence think tanks, and
supporting critical infrastructure provision in poor
countries.
• Pretty spectacular staff too. Get stuff done people.
TODO: [[team slides go here]]
Can Mattereum really pull off
something this complicated?
Vinay Gupta does the closing keynote at Ethereum DevCon One.
102
103. • The “World Wide Web” existed for a while
without any Domain Names. Sites were only
identified by their IP addresses until ISPs got
DNS servers. We emailed around site IP lists.
• Blockchains are ideal for transacting real value,
but real assets do not have blockchain
names yet. As a result, blockchains are filled
with unreal assets: form without real content.
• Mattereum creates blockchain names for
physical things, like domain names were for
information.
• Enabling safe trade in Real World Assets.
• Now the blockchain has a gateway to the real
world, and the revolution can begin in earnest.
Blockchain needs Mattereum
Vinay Gupta does the closing keynote at Ethereum DevCon One.
Ethereum launch graphics from 2015
103
104. • Elon Musk laid out a plan, where each step
was profitable, which may largely fix CO2
emissions from transport, given time.
• He’s 14 years into that plan and it seems to
be going pretty well. He’s changed the world.
• We have a plan for building a global
blockchain platform for managing the
world’s environmental impact, where each
step is profitable, resulting in a goal state
which largely manages the CO2 emissions
from consumer goods.
• A lot less capital intensive and risky than car
manufacturing too.
The Secret Tesla
Master Plan this is real
homeless in LA
104
105. • Built a product information market
for consumer goods.
• Use that money to build or integrate
search engines, auction sites,
securization: the whole ecosystem.
• Use that money to help fix the
carbon situation by creating a fully
functional circular economy.
• Don’t lose sight of poverty on the
way.
The Secret Mattereum
Master Plan
105
106. todo: capital
conversion matrix goes
hereThere is no generally accepted rigorous definition of social
enterprise. This is almost certainly a temporary state of
affairs because, in the fullness of time, a legal framework akin
to non-profit status is likely to arise from government
finalizing the debate about what constitutes social
enterprise.
However, a legal definition of a social enterprise will not
necessarily help us design social enterprise business models
or know exactly how to go about creating successful ones.
Triple Bottom Line (3BL) accounting practices are a source of
significant insight into social enterprise, and I would like to
present an analysis of the social enterprise conceptual
framework from a 3BL perspective, using the capital
conversion matrix (CCM).
Triple Bottom Line asks that businesses justify themselves in
three ways: natural capital, social capital and financial capital
are the terms from natural capitalism for these three
"bottom lines." These three are often shorthanded as planet,
people and profit.
Social enterprises predominantly define themselves as
businesses which have a substantial impact on the second
two bottom lines: cash positive with substantial social
impact is the goal. But can we create a more insightful
model of what a social enterprise really is?
The Capital Conversion Matrix
I first saw the CCM drawn on a whiteboard at the Rocky
Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colorado. It looks like this.
This is a sort of 2D balance sheet. Resources come into the
company at the top, and costs are at the side.Veggies come
from the planet but cost profit. Staff are people and cost
profit. Energy from the planet costs both profit and planet.
Three Rules for Designing the Social Enterprise
Vinay Gupta
Hexayurt Project
hexayurt@gmail.com
pizzas
bought
interest on
startup loan
profit
planet
people
planet
profit/loss
sweat equity
staff wages
pollution
from energy
veggies
energy
people
capital
conversion
matrix for a
pizza joint
Using the capital conversion matrix to analyze a pizza joint is a
sledgehammer to crack a nut. So let's try Grameenphone.
Defining Social Enterprise
I believe there are three definitive rules for designing a
social enterprise.
i. A social enterprise must convert financial capital into
social capital. A social enterprise must also convert social
capital into financial capital. Each direction of this flow
There is no generally accepted rigorous definition of social
enterprise. This is almost certainly a temporary state of
affairs because, in the fullness of time, a legal framework akin
to non-profit status is likely to arise from government
finalizing the debate about what constitutes social
enterprise.
However, a legal definition of a social enterprise will not
necessarily help us design social enterprise business models
or know exactly how to go about creating successful ones.
Triple Bottom Line (3BL) accounting practices are a source of
significant insight into social enterprise, and I would like to
present an analysis of the social enterprise conceptual
framework from a 3BL perspective, using the capital
conversion matrix (CCM).
Triple Bottom Line asks that businesses justify themselves in
three ways: natural capital, social capital and financial capital
are the terms from natural capitalism for these three
"bottom lines." These three are often shorthanded as planet,
people and profit.
Social enterprises predominantly define themselves as
businesses which have a substantial impact on the second
two bottom lines: cash positive with substantial social
impact is the goal. But can we create a more insightful
model of what a social enterprise really is?
The Capital Conversion Matrix
I first saw the CCM drawn on a whiteboard at the Rocky
Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colorado. It looks like this.
This is a sort of 2D balance sheet. Resources come into the
company at the top, and costs are at the side.Veggies come
from the planet but cost profit. Staff are people and cost
profit. Energy from the planet costs both profit and planet.
Using the capital conversion matrix to analyze a pizza joint is a
sledgehammer to crack a nut. So let's try Grameenphone.
This diagram shows that Grameenphone is efficiently
converting social capital to financial capital and back again. Let's
break that down. The network cost (red) improves social
connectivity for customers. But the Grameen distribution
channels - aided by that social connectivity - help to sell the
phone services. Social capital to financial capital, and financial
capital to social capital. Grameenphone is a social enterprise.
Defining Social Enterprise
I believe there are three definitive rules for designing a
social enterprise.
i. A social enterprise must convert financial capital into
social capital. A social enterprise must also convert social
capital into financial capital. Each direction of this flow
should be clearly identifiable, and the two flows together
should form a positive loop, each supporting the other.
ii. A social enterprise should use its alignment of interests
with its customers to reduce customer-vendor conflict thereby
reducing transaction costs for both parties, as trust is value.
iii. A social enterprise should be net positive in both
financial capital and social capital terms. It must be self-
supporting financially, and produce objectively measurable
social value.
CSR programs from conventional companies typically fail (i)
in that there is no feedback loop between core business
operations and any social component. They fail (ii) because
they do not build real trust. Charities usually fail (i) and (iii)
by simply converting money into social good.
The true social enterprise is a company which grows social
capital to achieve its triple bottom line goals. The unique
economic advantages of the true social enterprise will allow
it to out-compete conventional businesses in many areas. I
hope these models will assist with social enterprise design.
network
costs
social
connectivity
phone call
fees
profit
planet
people
phone ladies
social
network
planet
profit/loss
Grameen
channels
people
capital
conversion
matrix for
Grameenph
one
106
109. • Various brands are working piecemeal to
solve this problem.
• But it’s an infrastructure and
architecture problem, below the level that
any one retailer can solve.
• Mattereum used cryptography and insurance
to anchor both ends of the deal, not just the
credit card payments, to get safe trade back.
• Stamping out fraud is the incentive we
need to get the entire consumer goods
cycle on to a blockchain, where we can
then go about optimising consumption
and waste to hit our environmental targets.
We will build an economic
engine by eliminating hundreds
of billions of online fraud
109
110. • Most things online sell at an “invisible” discount -
we doubt that they are real, and are willing to pay
less.
• In wine alone this is tens of billions.
• Two trillion a year of fake goods are sold to buyers.
This shadow falls over all trade on the internet.
• Tens of trillions of goods globally are sold at
effective discounts because buyers are not sure
they are real, and so reduce the price they are
willing to pay for goods which may well be
genuine
• Second hand markets are key to the circular
economy because they provide services with
near-zero ecological footprint.
Fraud is now the rate limiting factor
in the growth of e-commerce and
particularly second hand markets
110
112. • Value exists only in networks of relationships and
stories
• Advertising is stories
• Brands are relationships
• Both are attempts to industrialise value creation
• People tell us a story about what they are selling.
• We tell a story when we sell.
• A fair deal is when the story is true.
• Congruence between things and their stories is the
goal of the Mattereum platform. Seek truth.
• When the stories told about goods stop being true,
trade breaks down, and trade is badly impacted.
Value is accessed through
relationships and stories
112
113. The Yahoo home page from 1995 - it was a web ontology of content
• A domain name made information valuable in three
ways:
• you could find the information
• you could prove the information was real using
cryptography (via HTTPs)
• you could pay for the information
• Mattereum does the same process for
all physical matter that holds value.
• Our ecosystem will grow to encompass all valuable
matter in the same way the web now stores
essentially all valuable information.
• I’ll explain how it works in a few slides. But first…
• But how do I know the information on this “secure
domain name for physical things” is true?
Mattereum Asset Passports are
domain names for physical things
instead of information resources
on web pages
113
114. • Domain Names once had a truth problem: how do
I know that Amazon.com the web site is run by
Amazon, Inc. and my credit card number is safe?
• This problem was solved using cryptography: there
is a chain of X509 digital certificates that
authenticates Amazon, and protects your payment.
• Several of the companies creating these
certificates became the unicorns of the 1990s.
• Their business model is to verify that the person
asking for the certificate really is acting on behalf
of the company.
• The cryptography then takes that legal fact and
represents it in the web browser as a little green
padlock.
• Those little green padlocks carry insurance.
In the early 1990s e-commerce
was paralysed by credit card fraud.
You can tell how long we’ve been doing HTTPS
certificates for from the age of the graphics
114
115. 115
cryptographyinsurance
proof of insurance .
user interface
communicated to users
Web
HTTPS
Trust
Models
proof of insurance
communicated to users
on the blockchain
in a web/mobile app
The Mattereum Asset Passport has the same logical structure as the
HTTPS certificates that enabled the global e-commerce revolution.
HTTPS Certificate Authorities are the trust infrastructure
which has protected all e-commerce for decades.
116. • Mattereum does for the decentralised web what
HTTPS did for the Web: it makes safe trade possible.
• We use similar techniques: cryptography and insurance.
• We build trust frameworks around valuable assets so
they can be bought and sold online.
• One day there will be a blockchain “Amazon for
Houses” where you pay on the blockchain and the
electronic locks let you, as the new owner, into your
house immediately.
• Mattereum makes that, and everything else like
that, possible.
• We use verify the house exists, and prove to all
parties that you now own it.
• Mattereum is the missing link for blockchain
e-commerce. Also we help fix climate change.
Mattereum Asset Passports
are like HTTPS certificates
for physical things
116
117. 117
cryptographyinsurance
proof of insurance .
user interface
communicated to users
Web
HTTPS
Trust
Models
proof of insurance
communicated to users
on the blockchain
in a web/mobile app
118. seller buyer
story of goods
payment
delivery of goods
goods
• Normally a vendor is wearing two hats:
they describe the goods (story), as well
as delivering the goods (service).
• If we could split those two roles, we
could create nearly fraud-free trade
• This dual role is responsible for almost
all fraud: we need more voices in the
conversation to build active trust.
• Experts tell the story of the goods, and
are assed on their accuracy.
• Efficient vendors deliver the goods
Mattereum uses technology to tell the
story of things in a Trust Community
118
119. buyer
expert
seller
payment for assets
delivery
goods
• Experts tell the story of the goods.
• These statements are verified by
cryptography and backed by insurance.
• An exact parallel to domain names secured
using HTTPS certificates.
• With domain names, only a single “expert” can
vouch that amazon.com really is Amazon.
• Mattereum Asset Passports allow for
multi-expert collaboration in verifying goods.
• Experts work together to give us faith,
certainty, and insurance on our purchases.
The logic of trade using the
Mattereum Asset Passport
119
120. utility
expert
seller buyer
compliance
expert
identity
expert
goods
ecology
expert
• When we wish to buy goods, we can
consult with a variety of experts to
corroborate the story of the goods.
• Different experts can contribute their
expertise so we can get a full 360°
understanding of what we are buying.
• Real experts, real insurance, real safety for
buyers.
• Lots of unexpected benefits because
now we can get universal insight into
the goods.
• Every expert adds value to the goods.
Goods are worth more
in a Trust Community
120
121. utility
expert
seller buyer
compliance
expert
identity
expert
goods
• When we wish to buy goods, we can
consult with a variety of experts to
corroborate the story of the goods.
• Different experts can contribute their
expertise so we can get a full 360°
understanding of what we are buying.
• Real experts, real insurance, real safety for
buyers.
• Lots of unexpected benefits because
now we can get universal insight into
the goods.
• Every expert adds value to the goods.
Goods are worth more
in a community
40gt
16gt
ecology
expert
do not forget this bit, this is still a deck about saving the world from
climate change
121
122. Mattereum
claims back
the value lost
to fraud
buyer bonus
ex[expert fees
Mattereum
seller bonus
doubt
what
buyers
are willing
to pay
buyers pay
full price
sellers get
more value
FRAUD IS
ELIMIATED
• Buyers choose to pay less than goods are really
worth to compensate them for the risk of fraud.
That’s just their rational risk management.
• Good sellers know their goods are genuine, and
are losing 20% per sale to the “doubt discount”.
• Experts bring buyers and sellers together by
providing blockchain proofs (with insurance) that
the goods are genuine: the community knows!
• Mattereum orchestrates all these moving parts
using blockchain smart contracts, and takes a
cut of the fees as our compensation.
• Everybody comes out ahead, and we
collaborate to squeeze fraud out of markets.
In the Mattereum Trust
Community, we all get paid
what the
goods are
worth
122
123. Mattereum’s
addressable markets
are very large
0
750
1500
2250
3000
2021 2022 2023 2024
• Wine: $364bn
• Collectibles: $370bn
• Fine art: $60bn
• Luxuries: $1.2tn
• Gold bullon: $2tn
• and so on
Asset onboarding (millions)
123
124. • Some experts might:
• Calculate the embodied carbon in the object
• Verify the carbon offsets in the Asset
Passport are valid
• Check the asset can be recycled effectively
• Verify that no component of the asset is a
result of slave labour practices
• Because we have bound the commercial
value of the asset directly to its ecological
footprint we can now start to do ecological
optimisation of our own personal footprints
using the machine-readable impact records
linked in the Mattereum Asset Passport.
Now back to this
guy: climate change
124
125. • The trouble in online commerce, and the
high end fraud in art, wine, and gold, are
not going away any time soon.
• Our company hacks down that fraud to
arbitrarily low levels, and should print
money while doing so.
• That money pays for the rail which
manages environmental impact data right
along side of the fraud prevention data.
• That data opens up vast policy options,
and real competition to be green.
• But wait, there’s more!
We have a plausible economic
engine: a potential stream of
profits to pay for a revolution
125
126. • Once durable goods exist, they can go round
forever.
• In practice, this does not happen
because of friction:
• It takes too much effort to document
an object and find buyers.
• The marketplace takes 10% to 30%
for the transaction.
• And people still get ripped off all the
time. No guarantees.
• Asset Passported second hand goods are
easy to sell on the blockchain (or eBay).
• Ultra-low fees for simple sales, and the
“experts” can be local bike or camera or
car repair stores looking for extra income.
Now let’s talk about
demand reduction
TheMarketplace
Production
Capital Resources
Unintended
Consequences
Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Consumption
Waste
Coproducts
resold
products
technical
nutrients
supply&
demand
key:
assets
trade
money
harm
126
BUY
127. • Everybody is getting into the second hand
business: IKEA, Patagonia and many more
big brands are starting to act as second
hand dealers for their own products.
• Pro-market dynamics start to apply to more
and more areas: “buy the really good stuff,
use it for your project, then sell it on for
80% of what you paid for it”.
• Anything which is sufficiently expensive
and durable will demonstrate these
dynamics: cameras, a Tesla, high fashion
accessories.
• Infrastructure for global corporate second
hand markets is a really good place to be.
Global corporate
second hand markets
127
128. • Human culture knows how to make things which
last essentially forever: stainless steel,
polypropylene, denim, glass, aluminium.
• Most well-designed useful things don’t wear out.
Ever. We just need markets which incentivise
these goods over trash.
• In this model, you can consume as much as
you like as long as you sell what you aren’t
using, and your effective footprint is near-zero.
• Even the first user, if the goods are near-
permanent, has negligible footprint.
• The global demand for durable goods is near-
infinite. Elite consumption plus efficient second
hand markets is a mechanism to fill this need.
Second hand consumption
has almost no footprint.
128
129. • This is the user interface for the circular
economy.
• When you purchase goods, new or second
hand, they come with an AP which populates
your inventory app.
• Time to sell? Drag to “Sell.”
• Lend? Drag to a friend, indicate which one
of you is paying for the insurance. Job done.
• Calculate carbon footprint, and buy offsets
right in the app.
• “You haven’t used $5800 worth of items in
six months, would you like me to sell them?”
The user interface for this
new world already exists,
with a billion ready users
129
130. • To get Real World Assets to behave like NFTs
requires two additional components.
• It needs a Titleholder and it needs a
Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners.
• We know how to build both of these things.
They are hard, but we’re good.
• Once that’s done, transferring a RawNFT to
somebody else will also transfer the legal
ownership of the asset.
• That’s when putting physical things that you
own into Defi contracts becomes possible.
• There are no shortcuts on this one. We
checked.
Real World Asset
NFTs (RawNFTs)
130
131. • Project Status
• LALAUNCHPAD.ORG is a small village of
hexayurts in Los Angeles.
• mattereum.com/about has working asset
passports for a range of test customers
including William Shater, our first pilot
• mattereum.com/lp has the legal framework that
powers these asset passports
• Mattereum can stretch the assets for the very
poorest by enabling access to tools through
efficient markets. This is work in progress.
• Thank you for your attention.
• Two appendices follow.
Mattereum and the
Soft Development Path
131
• Built a product information market
for consumer goods.
• Use that money to build or integrate
search engines, auction sites,
securization: the whole ecosystem.
• Use that money to help fix the
carbon situation by creating a fully
functional circular economy.
• Don’t lose sight of poverty on the
way.
The Secret Mattereum Master Plan
132. 132
1. vinay@mattereum.com
2. this deck is not a solicitation of
investment: those usually
come without 75 pages of
climate doom in the preamble.
138. We can assume a plurality of social
models, economic systems and
technological regimes under which
society and various lifestyles of its
members can meet the normative
sustainability target of 8 tonnes.
146. So what we learn from SPREAD 2050?
1. The importance of long-term quantitative targets (e.g. on
climate neutrality)
2. Spreadsheets that provide metrics on what is needed in order
to reach the critical targets.
3. There are various social and economic models that a climate
macrostrategy can legitimately assume
4. Under each social and economic model there can still be
plurality of lifestyles
5. Different political groups/ideologies should have an explicitly
outline climate macrostrategy, based on scientifically sound
metrics, yet prioritizing their favorit values and priorities.
147. 1. Note on the DEMOS HELSKINKI SPREAD SCENARIOS
1. Clear that Mattereum-style Asset Passports are going to be ubiquitous in
most of these ultra clean futures - recycling instructions by law for example
2. Also clear that substantial freedom exists even within hard ecological
limits, and that the ability to count costs becomes critical in the society
3. It would be nice if all environmental politics shipped with impact models
147
149. 1. Data Formats
1. yes, it’s all XML/JSON under the hood
2. files stored in IPFS
3. hashes of the IPFS files in Ethereum smart contracts
2. 20 years of under-commercialised work in Semantic Web / Semantic Linked
Data is going to come in very, very handy
149
150. 1. Taxation
1. wow that’s sure a lot of sweet, sweet data about the CO2 footprint of
things that people own…
2. Shame if somebody were to… tax it…
2. There are a bunch of ways of doing carbon taxes
3. They’re all going to be exquisitely dependent on data about CO2 content
150
151. 1. Artificial intelligence for Stablecoins
1. Put half a trillion dollars of physical stuff on the blockchain with Mattereum
2. Gold, wine, art, 100kw diesel generators, buildings
3. AI can now buy/sell/trade fine-grained down to individual assets
2. Use AI to build anti-correlated portfolios of these fine-grained assets:
extremely stable portfolios, unitised and sold, used as currency. So so stable!
151
152. 1. Boring but lucrative
1. Gold bricks into MakerDAO
2. Fractional ownership of a Picasso
3. Every damn securitisation company in the blockchain space has to have
some kind of back end to prove the assets exist
4. We’re going to hire some kind of financial services scaling guy to service it
152
153. 1. how do you prove the asset in the asset passport is the asset that I have just
bought?
1. NFCs, or super-NFCs with key pairs in ‘em - yes those exist
2. for a violin, you take a CAT scan: it’s $1000 or so, then an expert (or an AI?)
compares it with the scan whose hash is on chain
2. for land it’s easier, but the hard thing is PROVING that there’s no lien on it >>>
153
154. 1. REAL ESTATE is Evil
1. in the Netherlands, there’s 200 possible legal statuses for a piece of land and
their national system includes scanned goat hide land titles - yes, they
scanned goat hides in Old Dutch
2. To fix this, you need Automated Custodians to own the land and only do
what they are told do to by the blockchain. Yes, this is hard. But we do hard.
154
155. 1. Automated titleholders: mattereum.com/lp describes how to do that
2. Dispute resolution: mattereum.com/lp also describes how that works
3. there is also the fiendish https://mattereum.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/
mattereum_workingpaper.pdf which is quite old now but utterly comprehensive
and gets into all the rabbit holes
4. https://medium.com/humanizing-the-singularity/engineering-consumption-
155
156. 1. what’s really going to happen with the environment?
1. solar panels kill carbon really fast in most of the world, particularly for new
demand
2. the installed base of cars and people living in stupidly cold places,
aeroplanes. etc. keep pumping out the CO2
3. eventually somebody’s going to lose their temper and blow up the oil wells
156
157. 1. what % of environmental footprint can Mattereum really fix
1. by the time it’s done, Mattereum will be first among equals in a big, big
diverse market for object intelligence
2. WHAT THE WEB DID FOR INFORMATION, BLOCKCHAIN WILL DO FOR
PHYSICAL MATTER - 50% to 80% less object waste? 10%+ global net CO2?
3. Software is eating the world, and also making it searchable
157
158. 1. search for physical matter
2. search for physical matter
1. your downstairs neighbour is selling you his mac charger for $35 so you
can finish your term paper, and his new one arrives tomorrow between
11AM and noon, guaranteed.
1. handy for you, but IN LIGHT INDUSTRY THIS IS GAME CHANGING
158
159. 1. small world networks: we can’t boil the ocean. But it’s not an ocean, it’s lots of
rivers. Travel up the rivers of value, high fraud, high value, easy to physically ID -
get scale, generate value, do tech
2. with a few very solid verticals in play, the hard, grimy push out into the endless
seas of “barely worth selling, but certainly shouldn’t be landfilled” starts - I’m
hoping to leave a lot of that to either our competitors or my deputies… must do.
159
160. 1. tell me a bit more about AI
2. it’s all feedstock for AI: a vast, highly accurate blockchain database of facts
about the material world
3. also the AI can buy and sell stuff using the blockchain, so maybe you can
teach it to recognise bargains and then auto-trade.
4. yes, I know that’s going to get really weird. Like spam, but physical things. OK.
160
161. 1. there’s a real need to finish this deck properly, and I don’t think it’s going to
happen quite yet - there just isn’t time.
1. it would be 300 pages and I’d need a lot of help from Ramez Naam, who’s
too busy I am sure.
2. thanks for putting up with the general oddness of it, that’s how I prevent my
first drafts getting mistaken for final work product. IT WILL COME IN TIME.
161