Research Papers
Current Trends and Limitations in Blockchain: Energy Applications
August 3, 2018

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The global energy market has witnessed a rapid deployment of renewable energy technologies such as rooftop solar. As the commercial deployment of renewable energy generation technologies grows, and individual users can produce their own energy, the question of how to manage the new paradigm shift of energy generation has been posed. Currently, the traditional utility model utilizes an aged infrastructure that only supports a one-way transmission of electricity: from the utility to the consumer. However, with the advancement of renewable energy technologies being deployed in a small residential scale, technology must innovate to allow adaptations to the current one-way transmission infrastructure. Because consumers can now produce their own energy, the infrastructure must be adapted to allow not only a two-way connection between the utility and the consumer, but also an interconnected network between consumers to facilitate a wider range of opportunities for power purchase. A low cost opportunity to realize the solution to this aging infrastructure is blockchain.