Protection of the environment has come a long way since the early global warming debates. Whether you agree with their politics or not, men such as Al Gore and others realized the necessity to focus on protecting the environment. While huge strides have been made in reducing our global carbon footprint, much remains to be done in the environmental protection field to ensure a long and prosperous road ahead.
At the same time, consumers are paying more for electricity, which often has a substantial carbon footprint, than ever before. In some regions, electrical bills have continued to skyrocket, and many consumers are finding it harder and harder to pay for their monthly consumption while income remains flat or down. At this time, most users purchase electricity from retailers (commonly referred to as utilities), and, surprisingly, nearly 50 percent of the markup above wholesale goes to cover the utility’s marketing, administrative and debt service.
Increasing costs due to red tape mixed with a massive need for clean energy to replace the fossil fuel market that has consistently poisoned the environment… is there hope for change? The answer may well come from blockchain technology giant ConsenSys and their new spinoff company Grid+.
Changing the Grid
Grid+ intends to utilize the distributed nature of blockchain technology to make it not only possible, but economically rational for consumers to participate in wholesale electricity markets. Since a great deal of the pollution caused by electrical usage is the result of spikes in demand, the Grid+ system provides a way for consumers to have access to cleaner energy forms through a distributed network, which should flatten out the periodic demand spikes over time.
Grid+ has developed and tested a hardware device called a “smart energy agent” that automates much of the process of interacting with the third party wholesale market, making it possible for consumers to both purchase energy at wholesale cost or monetize it during times of economic rationality.
Consumers with surplus electricity from external sources (solar panels, generators, etc) have the opportunity to monetize that surplus, while others can buy power from third parties as well. The overall savings for consumers will be substantial, and interest in the system is already exploding. Nevertheless, electrical freedom and pollution reduction is only the first step in a much larger plan.
Electricity, Environmentalism, and Everything, Oh My!
The Grid+ system is designed for simplicity of use and has an attractive hardware component. Consumers can store assets (including cryptocurrencies) on the hardware without knowing that blockchain technology is the underlying integral system that or having the technological knowhow to put the system in place. What’s more, consumers won’t be forced to know or maintain their private keys, as Grid+ uses an advanced mechanism called 2-of-3 Blind-Key Multi-signature Security. In this way, the Grid+ system will make it possible to move Blockchain technology into less tech-savvy homes. If customers feel comfortable setting a router to use home wi-fi they should feel at ease using the smart energy agent.
Grid+ cofounder and CEO Mark D’Agostino says:
“We recognize that user experience in the crypto ecosystem is a challenge that represents a massive barrier to entry for the normal customer. Our goal is to abstract away the technical difficulties to help onboard the masses to this new paradigm that will affect all facets of their lives. By utilizing Ethereum, our customers will for the first time in their lives have user agency over their assets. ”
The Grid+ smart energy agent gives consumers a point of access to a huge amount of applications, including those that can generate passive income, by making the smart energy agent perform as a Blockchain-enabled IoT device. Once the agent is inside millions of homes, Blockchain technology will rebuild the way users think about and exchange value.
Embracing change
Blockchain technology will eventually prevail over other legacy technological systems – as it offers new types of architectures note previously feasible. Already many have seen the potential for the Grid+ platform, and the token sale has sold more than $36 mln in tokens. Embrace the future and follow the Grid+ team as they continue to disrupt legacy markets.