Blockchain as a Technology Backbone for an Open Energy Market

As the underlying technology behind Bitcoins, blockchains have attracted the attention of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and academics alike. Its potential to facilitate transactions, coordination without a central authority, and its capacity to support smart contracts are likely to open the door for its application to numerous settings. One of the more prominent applications is the clean energy sector. This chapter provides insights on how this novel technology that offers disintermediation, transparency, and flexibility is providing new ways of interaction to tackle challenges of communication, coordination, and efficiency in the clean energy sector. Along with providing a brief overview of the blockchain technology, we discuss some of the prominent clean energy applications of the technology, such as micro energy exchange grids, cap and trade, and electrical vehicle charging networks. Furthermore, the chapter includes empirical evidence on initial coin offerings (ICOs) launched by projects focusing on various aspects of development of renewable energy sector. We identify six prominent themes of services, namely, clean cryptocurrency mining, energy exchange, project financing, investment intermediation, network building, and hosting incentive programs. Furthermore, we find that clean energy ICOs tend to be more successful than other similar ICO projects.