Bitcoin made the spotlight when it was first introduced as the solution after the financial crisis prevailed in 2008. At first many were in awe of the technological innovation, but as time passed, the drawbacks of the cryptocurrencies became apparent to the whole world. In addition to having a highly volatile value, cryptocurrencies have become wildly notorious for the scams that have protruded. One other negative aspect that has been associated with them is that Bitcoin uses PoW(Proof Of Work), which makes mining Bitcoin an arduous task as it requires a large amount of electricity to perform the necessary computations.
To this end, the hazardous impact mining cryptocurrencies can cause on the environment has of late been a subject of debate. However, one thing is for sure that even without the added expense of electricity that is consumed by mining hardware, there is a need for the existent methods of sourcing energy to be replaced with ones having lesser to no carbon print.
Fortunately, the concern of the well being of the environment has been growing, with individuals making efforts to counter the threats that these non renewable sources of energy have produced for them. As of now there exist a number of technological innovations that reduce the harmful impact that is being inflicted on the environment.
Blockchain is undoubtedly, the innovation of the century, catering to a myriad of use cases. But its utility is not limited to the Industry of finance, healthcare and supply chain, rather there are many companies that are leveraging blockchain technology to provide green solutions to the community. There are blockchain project that power their grids by harnessing energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar. One such project that requires mentioning is Power Ledger, a thailand based company dedicated to provide blockchain solutions to empower communities with access to low-cost, reliable and renewable energy. It is a peer to peer solution that enables people to share electricity produced by their own energy assets with their neighbours.
Sourcing Energy from wind and solar is one task, however these sources are not constant and are available at different times. This is where batteries come in handy. The battery cells can be utilized by sucking up all the energy at times when the natural reserves are abundant, and can be utilized whenever needed, using the batteries. There is one hurdle although and that is the cost. These batteries that act as energy storage have high price tags. But it is expected that, like every new technology is worth a lot in the beginning and then lowers as time progresses, the prices of these batteries are sure to fall down as well.
In addition to Power Ledger, there are many other popular platforms that have taken initiative to resort to more sustainable sources of energy. Google,Facebook,Nestle, the big names, are inclining more towards supporting the environmental causes and are considering migrating to renewable sources of energy. Although, the technology is in developing stages and a mass adoption is a possibility, carrying out operations in this industrially developed world should have zero impact on the environment as we have one Earth only.
To conclude, there is a growing need for the technologists to innovate technology that would help optimize the methods of generating electricity, and only source the electricity from renewable sources to reduce the carbon print and emission of greenhouse gases. It is high time that such solutions be incorporated that reform the process of producing, storing and distributing energy that would significantly minimize the detrimental implications that producing energy from burning coal and fossil fuels have had on our Earth.
