The Canary Island company Macaronesia Digital, a startup focused on artificial intelligence actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), seeks to mitigate climate change by launching a digital application that measures organic carbon in olive crops.
The objective of the project is to predict the capture and storage of carbon in olive groves so that the climatic benefit of carbon sequestration can be calculated. It has the support and financing of the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI).
Macaronesia Digital has been a beneficiary of the Canarias Stars grants, which promote disruptive innovation, for the development of a pilot project of intelligent application for the monitoring, notification and verification (MRV) of organic carbon in soil (SOC) of agricultural landscapes.
The application will facilitate the participation of Canary Islands farmers in the imminent EU agro carbon emission trading system, which may represent a new income model for agricultural land owners.
The project is moving towards a network of certified agricultural soil sinks, and involves, in addition to the startup Macaronesia Digital, two universities, three other companies, an NGO and a network of farmers.
Of special relevance in the collaboration with the University of Córdoba is the participation in the project of Luis López Bellido, professor emeritus of said university and scientist of recognized prestige in the determination of Carbon sequestration in agricultural landscapes.
