Summary
- Multinational Corporations have been buying their way to green energy by acquiring Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from renewable energy producers.
- This has made the business of selling excess green energy lucrative but the certification process is cumbersome and expensive, thereby locking out small-scale producers.
- However, blockchain technology could change that by tokenizing RECs.
Introduction
The world is largely powered by fossil fuels. However, some countries like Germany have adopted measures to flip the tables of their overreliance on exhaustible energy resources by pursuing opportunities in eco-friendly energy sources. This has boosted the campaign against climate change with more startups looking to pounce.
Several have launched various renewable energy technologies as they seek to benefit from the green energy drive. Among one of the most interesting technologies that companies are using is the distributed ledger technology.
A quick rundown of the green energy market
The green energy market is driven by three primary verticals, which include wind power, solar, and hydroelectricity. But the first two in that list are viewed as the future of renewable energy. Realistically, solar has proven to be a major force amongst startups while the initial financial outlay required to set up a wind power generation plant remains a major challenge.
Lately, companies have also started pursuing opportunities in offshore wind power, which analysts believe could prove to be the game-changer in the long run. While the financial outlay may be significantly higher, the power output is several times more in terms of capacity when compared to onshore wind power generation.
This is primarily because, in the ocean or the seas, there are fewer obstacles that block tidal winds. This leads to higher yields in power generation from offshore wind power than from onshore plants. The overall growth of the renewable energy market has contributed to increased energy efficiency, thereby boosting energy security, climate change mitigation and yielding several economic benefits. However, most small-scale renewable energy generators still find it hard to sell the excess power generated, but that could change if the disruptive force of blockchain technology proves unstoppable as it has in several other markets.
