The blockchain could serve as the foundation of a system for connecting energy grids, delivering more efficient and environmentally sustainable energy, according to Greentechmedia.com , a news site for the global clean energy market. One company, L03 Energy , is building an “open source cryptographically secure” blockchain to manage transactions across a microgrid.
Lawrence Orsini, the founder of L03 Energy, said the blockchain’s impact on energy could be much bigger than bitcoin. L03 Energy has built two nodes collecting generation and consumption data across the microgrid and sending it to the blockchain. Orsini said the nodes are not yet ready for “prime time,” but they are up and running.
Orsini was part of a group of energy professionals and blockchain enthusiasts that gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) recently to explore how blockchain can impact the energy system. Scott Clavenna, CEO of Greentechmedia, moderated the forum . Energy Applications Mostly Theoretical
Thus far, the blockchain’s application to the electric grid is mainly theoretical. Some participants are designing authentication systems for appliances and energy. At this point, people are mainly attempting to determine where the blockchain can apply and how to launch it.
Chris Taylor, a senior dispatcher at NRG Energy Inc., said he has been studying the blockchain for around four years and has realized it has potential implications for many industries, such as energy. He called the blockchain one of the most significant transitions in human history.
Craig Muraskin and David Schatsky, researchers at Deloitte LLP, published a Deloitte University Press article on how the blockchain is expanding into different industries. They provided an explanation of why the concept is attractive. The technology provides a way to record transactions or any digital interaction in a manner that is designed to be transparent, auditable, highly-resistant to outages, transparent […]
