Some forward-thinking groups are looking into renewable energy and energy trading to reduce the cost of electricity, lower the carbon footprint, and even lift poor nations into new levels of prosperity.Utilizing blockchain technology, this process can become a streamlined and universal concept in an unprecedented way – for both companies and consumers.In August of 2016, Power Ledger, a Perth startup with a focus on decentralized energy, began implementing blockchain technology into their own demonstration projects.Beginning with trials in a retirement community located south of Perth in Busselton, the company tested home users’ ability to trade excess solar energy between neighboring homes.Through the installation of energy meters, fitted to twenty households and a communal clubhouse, Power Ledger was able to track a house’s actual energy usage over a course of eight weeks in real time.According to Power Ledger’s co-founder Jemma Green: Power Ledger’s blockchain is extremely energy efficient as it uses the latest high-security proof-of-stake mining and solar power, making it the world’s most eco-friendly and sustainable blockchain ideally suited to data intensive applications such as required for Power Ledger’s Peer to Peer trading and settlement platform.

Power Ledger is a project under Ledger Assets, a company specializing in global verification technology that utilizes the blockchain.This innovative technology “allows power meters to communicate directly with the blockchain, removing many hardware trust issues,” according to Green.Since Proof of Stake mining requires more trust in people than Proof of Work does, this hybrid solution offers the best of both blockchain models within a single implementation.A faster data block creation rate dynamically communicating with the stable and robust Bitcoin Blockchain (hence a hybrid) giving the blockchain a very high level of trust from the onset.With the deployment of this technology scheduled for 2017 in cities like Victoria and Perth, Australia is gradually solidifying their advancing model for consumer generated and shared energy.With “almost 300 days of warm, bright sunshine per year” and the dropping costs of solar panels, the continent is in a unique position to lead the future revolution in how energy is created, swapped, and sold.

Current centralized grids that power homes and businesses around the world are expensive, inefficient, and generate pollution.According to the Energy Policy Research Institute, power outages alone cost the US economy $104 to $164 billion each year.litecoin appleAlthough prices for solar panel-generated energy are about 50 percent lower than what is obtained from central power grids, most consumers still do not consider solar power as an economically feasible option.bitcoin mining success storyFor many consumer[s], the decision to put solar panels on their roofs wasn’t just about saving money or saving the environment.bitcoin mining playstation 2It was an investment decision.50 th bitcoin miner

The ability to now sell their excess energy to other customers represents the return on their investment.This new system beats the conventional model of selling excess energy for a lower feed-in tariff (FIT) which is then sold at a higher rate from the grid.ethereum memory requirementsPresently, if you’ve got surplus solar electricity you sell it back for a low feed-in tariff and buy it back (from the grid) for a high rate.hmrc on bitcoinUsing (Power Ledger), you can sell it to your neighbor at somewhere between the two – less than the uniform tariff but more than you would get from selling it to their retailer.buy bitcoin using ukashWith Australian feed-in tariff rates on the decline, initiatives like Power Ledger are disrupting the energy sector in a positive way.bitcoin cashout method

Just as Airbnb and Uber have up-ended the hospitality and transport markets, blockchain-based solutions have the potential to change ways people buy and sell energy to power homes.The benefits of distributed renewable energy will flow on to those who, at the moment, can least afford to participate; we think that’s pretty special.bitcoin alliance of canadaAs dwellings of all sizes become more environmentally efficient and microgrid systems become mainstream, the costs for producing and purchasing energy decreases on all fronts.Peer-to-peer energy sharing through blockchain technology brings about a revolution in the way we consume and share utilities.Looking beyond profit-generating models, designs like those of Power Ledger can allow consumers to gift their excess energy to anyone in.Idyllic speculation aside, we can remain confident that the blockchain retains a significant place in the global conversation surrounding new energy models for the world.

Conventional, centralized power grids as we know them require a lot of maintenance for expensive infrastructure to transport electricity over long distances.And, as some may remember from the prolonged blackouts that Hurricane Sandy unleashed upon New York City and a dozen other states back in 2012, one major disadvantage of centralized grids is that they aren’t completely reliable and can be quite vulnerable to disruptions.Now, a New York-based startup is proposing an alternative: a small-scale, community microgrid that will allow local residents to buy and sell the energy they produce from rooftop solar power installations, using the existing energy infrastructure and the blockchain, the same technology that underpins open source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.Best of all, you don’t even need to have solar panels installed in order to participate.Brooklyn Microgrid is the organization that’s spearheading this innovative initiative, the first of its kind in the state.

It which uses TransActive Grid (TAG), a joint venture currently being jointly developed by LO3 Energy and Consensus Systems.The TransActive Grid is a distributed consensus system through which participants in the community microgrid can securely make their transactions.It is a decentralized and sustainable energy management solution that combines the transparency and security offered by blockchain-based “smart contracts” and currencies, in an emerging peer-to-peer economy.Through this model, individual members and businesses are able to engage in direct energy trading, buying excess solar power generated locally by other members, instead of relying solely on the big utility companies.The system will use Ethereum, a public blockchain platform with a smart contract functionality, which permits microgrid users to commit to contracts that cannot be falsified or misrepresented.Transactions and energy use will be updated automatically and in real-time through this distributed network, using a cryptographically secure list.

So far, the project will be launching in the neighborhoods of Gowanus and Park Slope.But the company’s bigger vision is to radically change how electricity is bought and sold — while also stimulating the local economy through renewables.“This whole concept benefits the area you live in.By buying energy locally, rather than from a national entity, the money goes back into the pockets of people in the community,” said TAG co-founder Joseph Lubin, quoted in the TreeHugger sustainability news site.“We’ll install the transactive platform which pretty much runs itself, whereby energy is automatically priced based on things consumers care about.It’s pretty hands off — as we think that will suit consumers best — but in future we plan to enable people to set preferences to maximize savings, do good in the community, and potentially sell energy cheaper to lower-income residents.” In addition to generating benefits for the local community, this consensus-based microgrid model could also have a lower impact on the environment.

With an estimated 6 percent of energy being lost because of long-distance transmission and distribution, any energy generated within the neighborhood microgrid means that less massive infrastructure is needed, making it a much more cost-effective and sustainable option in the long run.With local state governments like New York, California and Connecticut already working to develop a wider, supplementary network of microgrid energy sources, these locally based grids could someday become a much-needed backup to the centralized system during emergencies.Ultimately, it’s about giving residents more choices, and empowering them to take charge and participate in their local economy, whether it’s through hyper-local energy generation, or by purchasing electricity directly from the folks next door.Developing a connected network of distributed energy providers will also boost energy efficiency, and letting participants manage their own resources will strengthen community resiliency.This new business model based on a distributed approach looks like it could disrupt the old way of getting your electricity, but in the bigger picture, it could create green jobs, and generate more financial incentives for ordinary people to switch over to renewable energy — something that’s not only good for everyone, but also for the planet too.