Towards energy transition: use of blockchain in renewable certificates to support sustainability commitments
File(s)sustainability-15-00258.pdf (1.06 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Giannos, Panagiotis
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Corporations increasingly consider sustainability as an important goal and set net zero carbon emissions targets, consequently looking towards their electricity procurement to achieve them. Guarantees of Origin (GOs) are widely used as insurances for the renewability of electricity supplies and proofs of compliance to renewable standards; however, they suffer from structural problems. Their transactional history cannot distinguish between those traded among market actors and the ones that come directly from power plants, giving rise to transparency issues. Certificate trading dissuades producers from investing in an increase in renewable capacity resulting in lack of additionality while complex frameworks and administrative structures emerge to keep track of the vast network of GOs. These issues can be resolved through the introduction of blockchain networks which can provide transparency and help incentivise renewable investment while increasing automation and process simplification. This review explores the benefits and challenges of blockchain implementation for GOs and proposes a rethinking of how this scheme may fulfil the future needs of the energy sector.
Date Issued
2022-12-23
Date Acceptance
2022-12-19
Citation
Sustainability, 2022, 15 (1), pp.1-16
ISSN
2071-1050
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
Sustainability
Volume
15
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/258
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-12-23