Green Blockchain and Improvement of Sustainability in Smart Cities

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2022 in the subject Computer Science - Commercial Information Technology, grade: 2,1, University of Duisburg-Essen, language: English, abstract: This thesis addresses the research question of what impact the use of blockchain technology has on improving sustainability in a smart city. For this purpose, first an insight into the emergence of blockchain technology, as well as its structure, characteristics and various consensus mechanisms is given. This is followed by insights into the different types of blockchain and the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain technology in order to create as comprehensive an understanding as possible.

Due to the continuous progress of urbanization and the associated environmental pollution and destruction, it is becoming increasingly important to find innovative solutions to these problems.

The United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) offer countries and cities a basis for improving their sustainability. SDG 11 addresses the development of sustainable smart cities and communities. Smart cities use innovative technologies that are interconnected with each other across all areas of a city to drive sustainable and resource-saving urban development and provide citizens with a high quality of life. These technologies use sensors and other devices to collect data from their immediate environment, which is then analyzed to identify problems in their early stages and make improvements. However, the large amount of sensitive and personal data also increases the risk of security vulnerabilities. One of these technologies that could help improve sustainability in smart cities and also reduce risks is blockchain technology.