In 2020, I founded Dimarjan alongside my wife, Alexandra Santana. We had always dreamed of making an impact in Alexandra’s home country of Angola, but we found ourselves completely consumed by our corporate careers. Like many others, COVID was a turning point for us. We purchased a 10-hectare piece of land and started planting mango trees. Our initial focus was simply to collaborate with the local farmers to cultivate the land together. We soon expanded and decided that the most effective way for us to make a difference to the community and the planet was by offsetting carbon emissions caused by IT servers.
How to Measure and Offset CO2 Emissions in the IT Industry
IT servers generate carbon emissions during their production and through the energy they consume throughout their lifetime. One way to compensate is by finding a way to take carbon out of the air. The principle of photosynthesis states that for a tree to grow, it needs to absorb carbon dioxide. But before you can begin planting trees to offset CO2 in a precise and traceable manner, you first need a way to measure emissions. To give us accurate data from the servers whose emissions we’re working to offset, our partner Kurt Balanica from Unimission built a fixed and preconfigured appliance so our customers can avoid the hassle of installing it on their infrastructure. We create a carbon reduction certificate matching that consumption rate whenever such a server is deployed. Accurate measurements of server emissions help ensure our efforts are effective, transparent, and accountable.
Carbon Credit vs. Carbon Debit
Dimarjan doesn’t trade on future promises that we will plant some trees or that those trees will compensate for server emissions over the next five years. Our unique approach dictates that only carbon that has already been captured can be used to offset the footprint of a server. That means that when the server is deployed, the trees are already in the ground, sequestering carbon. This aligns with Carbify’s Carbon Debit model, which ensures offsets are only claimed after CO₂ has been captured and verified. These measures are only possible because we were able to pre-finance a part of this project, shouldering the upfront cost with the help of companies like Unimission. Carbify is our lead technology partner and primary sponsor. Our work in Angola is part of a broader Carbify initiative to create verifiable CO₂ drawdown systems around the world, and we’re proud to operate as a key implementation partner.
Creating Transparency With Blockchain Technology and Satellite Monitoring
Organizations often invest in sustainability projects without knowing where their money ends up or if it's being used for its intended purpose. Transparency is essential to Dimarjan, and we have several ways of building trust. First, we use blockchain technology to create virtual reproductions of real-world assets. Our trees are represented by NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), accessible to everybody from anywhere. Each NFT contains three main elements:
- The geolocation of the tree
- The type of tree
- When the tree was planted
Alongside this, there is a satellite that monitors our land. The satellite is independent, and it feeds directly into the NFT. As the satellite observes our agroforestry system growing, the NFT produces CO2 tokens on the blockchain. The tokens are added to our wallet, and we can then use them to create carbon certificates to support the offset of a server. If you’ve invested in offsetting with Dimarjan, you can see your trees on Google Earth and watch the action on the ground. If there's any further doubt, people have the geo-coordinates of their trees. Alexandra and I would be thrilled to invite people to Angola to visit our land in person!
Quality and Registry Framework
Dimarjan’s ability to offer verified and traceable carbon offsets is made possible through a close partnership with Carbify, which powers the entire backend infrastructure for blockchain integration, NFT issuance, and CO₂ tokenization. Certification is handled by the Global Carbon Standard (GCS), which aligns with Carbify’s preference for rigorous, science-based verification. All carbon reduction certificates are issued via GCS, and Carbify’s smart contract system only mints CO₂ tokens when satellite and ground-truth data confirm biomass growth. Together, Carbify and GCS provide the transparency and governance needed to build real trust in climate solutions. You can learn more at carbify.io.
Impact on the Local Ecosystem and Community
Our approach offers benefits that extend beyond simply offsetting emissions. It also involves:
- Providing employment for people in the local community
- Fostering food security
- Combating poverty
- Improving education
We’re not just planting trees; we’re creating agroforestry systems. These systems contain one main tree but also some shrubs around it, like beans, cassava, potatoes, corn, or something that is an immediate food supply. Through their commitment to offsetting the server footprint, our partners are helping make real improvements to the lives of the local community here in Angola and to the environment we call home.
Meaningful Steps Toward Net Zero
Our work comes with challenges, and every day, we're confronted with things that don't go as we think they should. Sometimes the rain doesn't fall when you expect it to, and you need to mitigate that by finding a water source to ensure the trees don't die. Headaches like this are just par for the course. Looking ahead, we would love to make trust even stronger by providing more up-to-the-minute imaging from the field. This could be done through a solar-powered drone station to allow drones to fly over the fields weekly and take pictures of every system, providing almost real-time imaging. Of course, developments like this depend on organizations having the integrity, bravery, and vision to join us on the journey. I've been working in the IT industry for a while, but I’ve seen few companies as active as Unimission in doing something tangible to reach net zero. If done correctly, work like ours is not greenwashing; it's doing the right thing for communities, people, and the planet.
Learn more about Dimarjan’s work and track your impact in real time
