Green Blockchain based IoT for secured supply chain of hazardous materials

Abstract

There is a wide recognition that Blockchain technology will play a central role in many sectors. In fact, this technology is a promising opportunity to ensure security, traceability, privacy and transparency in most digitized human activities. The supply chain of hazardous materials is a typical sensitive industrial activity that requires a high level of vigilance. The various stakeholders of such supply chain need to share crucial data using high secure channels while ensuring traceability. However, Blockchain is currently an energy-intensive technology. In this context, the challenge is to minimize the risk related to the hazardous materials supply chain using an eco-friendly and cost effective Blockchain. In this paper, we propose a green-Blockchain based framework for the hazardous materials supply chain. Two mathematical models are proposed for the energy management consumed by Blockchain transactions. The first one minimizes the total consumed energy by a set of servers by providing the optimal assignment of computing tasks over the time periods, while the second one minimizes both the CO2 emissions and the cost of a grid energy mix. To prove the applicability of the proposed framework, a Blockchain prototype is implemented to simulate an IoT-based supply chain of hazardous materials. The results show that the proposed system may help to ensure the security of dangerous goods transportation. Furthermore, the energy management using optimization modeling would provide CO2 emissions reduction and thus ensure sustainability of Blockchain transactions.