cointelegraph.com
Concerns about energy production, resource consumption and its impact on the environment are one of the dominant topics of debate on the global stage. The intensive energy costs of mining Bitcoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies are also frequently pointed to as a serious downside to the emerging asset class.
While environmental concerns and the cost to reward debate rages on, there is one group of cryptocurrency projects that has the goal of bringing blockchain technology to the global energy grids as a way to encourage renewable energy generation through a flexible marketplace that connects energy buyers and sellers.
The subsequent announcement of a partnership with Volkswagon on March 4 and the release of the EasyBat battery compliance app on March 16 further helped provide a boost to the token which went on to establish a new all-time high of $19.85 on March 18.
POWR/USD
The Power Ledger platform was established in May 2016 with the goal of creating an operating system for new energy markets that is capable of trading renewable energy and environmental commodities on a local and global scale.
Based out of Australia, the project aims to utilize blockchain technology to create a system where every electrical resource or power device has a digital identity that is connected to a real-time market that facilitates the transactions between them.
POWR operates on the Ethereum (ETH) network as a peer-to-peer energy exchange platform and it utilizes a two-token system comprised of POWR and Sparkz to “ensure consistency across Power Ledger’s platform,” according to the project’s website.
Sparkz are stable tokens that are used when units of electricity (kWh) are bought and sold on Power Ledger’s platform.
Trading activity for POWR began to pick up at the end of January as discussions about renewable energy began to gain traction in the media.
Following the launch of the Elemental retail marketplace on Feb. 1, the price of WPR surged from a low of $0.011 to a high of $0.05 on March 24 as conversations concerning renewable energy and sustainability in Europe and Australia took place.
Increased global attention on climate and energy production-related issues suggests that this niche slice of the crypto sector is ripe for further gains.
Projects utilizing blockchain technology to optimize global energy marketplaces are well-positioned to increase their market share as distributed ledger technology goes mainstream.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.