This week we start exploring some of the concerns about creating Comic NFT, starting with the environmental impact of the technology.

Check Your Understanding

* I understand that NFTs are currently extremely controversial in the comic book world.

Don’t Destroy the Planet

* I am not a supervillain, so it should be my goal to help preserve the planet, not destroy it.

* I believe that the carbon footprint of my project should be as close to zero as possible.

* I understand that there are several blockchains where I can host my comic NFTs.

* I understand that, while there are a few blockchains purpose-built for NFTs, NFTs are generally only one use case of many on most. Attributing the entire energy use of a chain to NFTs is a worst-case upper limit.

* I understand that, in terms of energy use, the blockchain is the most important variable to consider when compared to simply delivering a standard PDF via Dropbox or similar.

* I understand that there are creative trade-offs in selecting the blockchain to host my project.

* I understand that it is currently possible to create my comic NFT project on a low-power, carbon-neutral blockchain.

For sources, see the book, especially pages 62 to 64, and the attached spreadsheet.

Update

* Since I wrote this chapter, comic NFTs on Hedera Hashgraph have become a thing, most notably with the “Ashfall” series.

I drop a new section of the book each Thursday. The entire book is available as a download to new free/paid/comp subscribers to Tech for Comics (look for the link in the welcome e-mail). For more details, see:

Next week

Next week we continue the “Navigating the Concerns” section of the book, continuing our discussion of energy consumption and explicitly examining the Ethereum blockchain.

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