4NEW, Powerledger, Wepower, Jibrell Networks, Earth Token, KWHCoin are some of the players within the energy sector to have entered crypto over the past six months. One could argue that Bitcoin may have triggered the Energy arms race as each company attempts to redefine how energy should be accessed by the community in the most scalable manner.
Crypto-markets have experienced quite the turbulent journey over the past year. Not only has it risen sharply, it has also fallen sharply sparking fears of bubble bursts. With price volatility comes energy spikes given the increased transactional volume that occurs over the networks. Therefore it’s not out of the ordinary for a number of entrants to try to solve the energy consumption issues.
Most people within the crypto community are well aware of the drain proof of work transactions are having on energy consumption. However, while solutions relating to proof of stake take time to evolve, assuming they won’t create other new issues and dilemmas to deal with, we still need to resolve the energy crisis currently in motion. This is because the new wave of cryptocurrency adopters are most familiar with bitcoins and its store of value. Therefore, their appetite continues to be for proof of work coins.
To add fuel to the fire, conventional power plants are shrugging away from crypto miners given the heated regulatory debates and uncertainty around government’s stance on legitimizing crypto globally.
While we wait for the proof of work or proof of stake or the government’s view on crypto debates to play out, a number of companies have decided to combat the energy crisis in real time. Since 2017, some of the most successful ICOs have been Energy exchange platforms. Each version of these energy exchanges seems to keep pushing the limit closer and closer to the utopian concept of free energy, however, there are crucial flaws very few can address.
Firstly, conventional power plants are still skeptical about cryptocurrency in general, therefore, how can we expect rapid adoption from power producers to embrace these energy exchanges. This would mean that these energy exchanges that have coins backed by electricity without the electricity already in place are a lot like selling empty vases, with no certainty or assurance that power plants will back them in the future.
Secondly, very few have addressed the issue of liability. For example, power outages happen from time to time. In the event these outages were to occur, there is no thinking or protocols in place as to who is responsible for the liability of the coins that have already traded on these energy exchanges.
While there are plenty of other logistical and practical challenges to overcome with exchanges that are technically middlemen in the transaction, one company has emerged as the clear leader in the ongoing epic saga of the energy arms race bringing us closer to free electricity.
4NEW is a waste to energy power plant entirely integrated on the blockchain network. Therefore, the power they produce they own it, unlike exchanges that rely on power providers such as 4NEW. Varun Datta, the founder of 4NEW commented “The pace at which energy evolution is occurring is remarkable. The demand for bitcoins will globally cause energy companies to release their power for free taking us closer to the utopian reality.” 4NEW is also an extremely feasible concept as it generates power from the pressurized combustion of waste, thereby solving two global problems. Waste to Energy plants have been around for decades and are proven power plant technologies. 4NEW’s ICO is currently ongoing, slated to end March 31st, 2018. It’s no surprise that 4NEW has received significant institutional and wholesale buying demand for its coin and concept. 4NEW also recently announced Dr. Moe Levin to its advisory committee, to help develop a scalable and marketable solution dedicated to the crypto community.