IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v166y2022ics1364032122005172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges and opportunities of blockchain energy applications: Interrelatedness among technological, economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions

Author

Listed:
  • Ahl, Amanda
  • Goto, Mika
  • Yarime, Masaru
  • Tanaka, Kenji
  • Sagawa, Daishi

Abstract

The energy sector is undergoing a transition of decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization. This paper explores the application of blockchain in this transition. Through qualitative content analysis, expert interviews and discussion rooted in recent literature, key insights on the practical challenges and opportunities of blockchain energy applications are investigated. This is done in technological, economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions in order to propose holistic insights. Key dentified issues include scalability, data privacy, costs of change, market dynamics, user experience, skills, multi-stakeholder governance, and regulatory change. Key identified opportunities also range across these dimensions, such as blockchain advancements, power market development, user research, and regulatory sandboxes. While most research on blockchain energy applications has been from the technological lens, this paper contributes with a multi-dimensional approach. The interrelatedness among these dimensions is one of the key messages of this paper. Both corporate strategy and public policy development need to integrate user behavior research, business model innovation and regulatory experimentation for a holistic approach in understanding and implementing blockchain, and other emerging technologies. It is suggested that the multi-dimensional challenges and opportunities identified in this study, and functioning of their interrelatedness, are of interest for further exploration both in academia and among practitioners.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahl, Amanda & Goto, Mika & Yarime, Masaru & Tanaka, Kenji & Sagawa, Daishi, 2022. "Challenges and opportunities of blockchain energy applications: Interrelatedness among technological, economic, social, environmental, and institutional dimensions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122005172
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112623
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122005172
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112623?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oberst, Christian A. & Schmitz, Hendrik & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "Are Prosumer Households That Much Different? Evidence From Stated Residential Energy Consumption in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 101-115.
    2. Matto Mildenberger & Peter D. Howe & Chris Miljanich, 2019. "Households with solar installations are ideologically diverse and more politically active than their neighbours," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1033-1039, December.
    3. Li, Chen, 2020. "Designing a short-term load forecasting model in the urban smart grid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    4. Rishee K. Jain & Junjie Qin & Ram Rajagopal, 2017. "Data-driven planning of distributed energy resources amidst socio-technical complexities," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(8), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Di Silvestre, Maria Luisa & Favuzza, Salvatore & Riva Sanseverino, Eleonora & Zizzo, Gaetano, 2018. "How Decarbonization, Digitalization and Decentralization are changing key power infrastructures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 483-498.
    6. Angelo Facchini, 2017. "Distributed energy resources: Planning for the future," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(8), pages 1-2, August.
    7. Khaqqi, Khamila Nurul & Sikorski, Janusz J. & Hadinoto, Kunn & Kraft, Markus, 2018. "Incorporating seller/buyer reputation-based system in blockchain-enabled emission trading application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 8-19.
    8. Foti, Magda & Vavalis, Manolis, 2019. "Blockchain based uniform price double auctions for energy markets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    9. Siripha Junlakarn & Phimsupha Kokchang & Kulyos Audomvongseree, 2022. "Drivers and Challenges of Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Development in Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, February.
    10. Hua, Weiqi & Jiang, Jing & Sun, Hongjian & Wu, Jianzhong, 2020. "A blockchain based peer-to-peer trading framework integrating energy and carbon markets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    11. Sousa, Tiago & Soares, Tiago & Pinson, Pierre & Moret, Fabio & Baroche, Thomas & Sorin, Etienne, 2019. "Peer-to-peer and community-based markets: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 367-378.
    12. Ahl, Amanda & Yarime, Masaru & Tanaka, Kenji & Sagawa, Daishi, 2019. "Review of blockchain-based distributed energy: Implications for institutional development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 200-211.
    13. Thomas Morstyn & Niall Farrell & Sarah J. Darby & Malcolm D. McCulloch, 2018. "Using peer-to-peer energy-trading platforms to incentivize prosumers to form federated power plants," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 94-101, February.
    14. Alessandro Rubino, 2018. "Network charges in a low CO2 world," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(4), pages 255-256, April.
    15. Jiani Wu & Nguyen Khoi Tran, 2018. "Application of Blockchain Technology in Sustainable Energy Systems: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, August.
    16. Lüth, Alexandra & Zepter, Jan Martin & Crespo del Granado, Pedro & Egging, Ruud, 2018. "Local electricity market designs for peer-to-peer trading: The role of battery flexibility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 1233-1243.
    17. van Leeuwen, Gijs & AlSkaif, Tarek & Gibescu, Madeleine & van Sark, Wilfried, 2020. "An integrated blockchain-based energy management platform with bilateral trading for microgrid communities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    18. Ahl, A. & Yarime, M. & Goto, M. & Chopra, Shauhrat S. & Kumar, Nallapaneni Manoj. & Tanaka, K. & Sagawa, D., 2020. "Exploring blockchain for the energy transition: Opportunities and challenges based on a case study in Japan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    19. Yael Parag & Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "Electricity market design for the prosumer era," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(4), pages 1-6, April.
    20. Lee Thomas & Yue Zhou & Chao Long & Jianzhong Wu & Nick Jenkins, 2019. "A general form of smart contract for decentralized energy systems management," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 140-149, February.
    21. Andoni, Merlinda & Robu, Valentin & Flynn, David & Abram, Simone & Geach, Dale & Jenkins, David & McCallum, Peter & Peacock, Andrew, 2019. "Blockchain technology in the energy sector: A systematic review of challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 143-174.
    22. Noel Melton & Jonn Axsen & Daniel Sperling, 2016. "Moving beyond alternative fuel hype to decarbonize transportation," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(3), pages 1-10, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Yun & Xie, Haipeng & Sun, Xiaotian & Tang, Lingfeng & Bie, Zhaohong, 2022. "A cross-chain enabled day-ahead collaborative power-carbon-TGC market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roth, Tamara & Utz, Manuel & Baumgarte, Felix & Rieger, Alexander & Sedlmeir, Johannes & Strüker, Jens, 2022. "Electricity powered by blockchain: A review with a European perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    2. Kobashi, Takuro & Yoshida, Takahiro & Yamagata, Yoshiki & Naito, Katsuhiko & Pfenninger, Stefan & Say, Kelvin & Takeda, Yasuhiro & Ahl, Amanda & Yarime, Masaru & Hara, Keishiro, 2020. "On the potential of “Photovoltaics + Electric vehicles” for deep decarbonization of Kyoto’s power systems: Techno-economic-social considerations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    3. Yildizbasi, Abdullah, 2021. "Blockchain and renewable energy: Integration challenges in circular economy era," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 183-197.
    4. Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gupta & Sebastian-Cardenas, D. Jonathan & Bhattarai, Bishnu & Wang, Peng & Widergren, Steve & Borkum, Mark & Randall, Alysha, 2021. "Blockchain smart contract reference framework and program logic architecture for transactive energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    5. Siripha Junlakarn & Phimsupha Kokchang & Kulyos Audomvongseree, 2022. "Drivers and Challenges of Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Development in Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Javier Parra-Domínguez & Esteban Sánchez & Ángel Ordóñez, 2023. "The Prosumer: A Systematic Review of the New Paradigm in Energy and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-44, July.
    7. Zhou, Yuekuan & Lund, Peter D., 2023. "Peer-to-peer energy sharing and trading of renewable energy in smart communities ─ trading pricing models, decision-making and agent-based collaboration," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 177-193.
    8. Seyedhossein, Seyed Saeed & Moeini-Aghtaie, Moein, 2022. "Risk management framework of peer-to-peer electricity markets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    9. Azim, M. Imran & Tushar, Wayes & Saha, Tapan K. & Yuen, Chau & Smith, David, 2022. "Peer-to-peer kilowatt and negawatt trading: A review of challenges and recent advances in distribution networks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. Kirli, Desen & Couraud, Benoit & Robu, Valentin & Salgado-Bravo, Marcelo & Norbu, Sonam & Andoni, Merlinda & Antonopoulos, Ioannis & Negrete-Pincetic, Matias & Flynn, David & Kiprakis, Aristides, 2022. "Smart contracts in energy systems: A systematic review of fundamental approaches and implementations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Hua, Weiqi & Chen, Ying & Qadrdan, Meysam & Jiang, Jing & Sun, Hongjian & Wu, Jianzhong, 2022. "Applications of blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies for enabling prosumers in smart grids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    12. Ableitner, Liliane & Tiefenbeck, Verena & Meeuw, Arne & Wörner, Anselma & Fleisch, Elgar & Wortmann, Felix, 2020. "User behavior in a real-world peer-to-peer electricity market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    13. Wang, Juan & Zheng, Junjun & Yu, Liukai & Goh, Mark & Tang, Yunying & Huang, Yongchao, 2023. "Distributed Reputation-Distance iterative auction system for Peer-To-Peer power trading," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    14. Ahl, A. & Yarime, M. & Goto, M. & Chopra, Shauhrat S. & Kumar, Nallapaneni Manoj. & Tanaka, K. & Sagawa, D., 2020. "Exploring blockchain for the energy transition: Opportunities and challenges based on a case study in Japan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Marco Galici & Mario Mureddu & Emilio Ghiani & Fabrizio Pilo, 2022. "Blockchain-Based Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation of a Decentralized Controller for Local Energy Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-25, October.
    16. Maarten Wolsink, 2020. "Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    17. Yuki Matsuda & Yuto Yamazaki & Hiromu Oki & Yasuhiro Takeda & Daishi Sagawa & Kenji Tanaka, 2021. "Demonstration of Blockchain Based Peer to Peer Energy Trading System with Real-Life Used PHEV and HEMS Charge Control," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-12, November.
    18. Esmat, Ayman & de Vos, Martijn & Ghiassi-Farrokhfal, Yashar & Palensky, Peter & Epema, Dick, 2021. "A novel decentralized platform for peer-to-peer energy trading market with blockchain technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    19. Andreolli, Francesca & D'Alpaos, Chiara & Kort, Peter, 2023. "Does P2P Trading Favor Investments in PV-Battery Systems?," FEEM Working Papers 330498, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    20. Alessandra Chiarini & Lorenzo Compagnucci, 2022. "Blockchain, Data Protection and P2P Energy Trading: A Review on Legal and Economic Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122005172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.