On Friday, Genfinity held a podcast with Jesse Morris, the CEO of Energy Web, to delve into the core missions guiding Energy Web’s ecosystem and the latest developments from 2023. What exactly is Energy Web’s mission, and what are a few ways it is being carried out within the global energy space? Furthermore, how does the Energy Web Token come into play within their ecosystem? We have the answers for you below.
Who is Energy Web?
Energy Web is the organization behind the development and maintenance of the Energy Web Chain, a decentralized blockchain platform designed specifically for the energy sector. The Energy Web Foundation (EWF) is a global nonprofit organization that oversees the Energy Web Chain and aims to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology in the energy sector.
In discussing how the Energy Web organization came about, Jesse noted:
“I really liked the topic of this whole peer-to-peer concept about enabling individuals and businesses to seamlessly transact in a variety of different ways. And those are functionalities — at the time and even still today — that we really need in the energy sector. That is what led us to starting up a project called the Energy Web Foundation, which was all about helping energy companies digitize, and at the same time, injecting that Web3 infrastructure with a lot of different technologies. “
What are the core missions of Energy Web?
We wanted to understand the overall ethos of the Energy Web ecosystem directly from the source, and this is what Jesse had to say:
“We are a global non-profit organization headquartered in Switzerland that works with energy companies all over the world. Our primary objective is to work with them to build open-source technologies, including a bevy of specifically Web3 technologies all focused on decarbonization.”
When it came to defining the core mission of Energy Web, Jesse emphasized that, at their core, they are really focused on “enterprise adoption of Web3”. He stated that the main focus is, “…to make it simple and easy for energy enterprises to take advantages of these technologies.”
“In some cases, we are sitting side-by-side with IT professionals within these energy companies, helping them understand what it means to be a validator on a blockchain. Or, we are helping them build an entire application that uses blockchain for a specific piece of business logic. In other cases, we are engaging with a much broader energy web ecosystem and community, issuing grants to have other people build things in the ecosystem. We are doing a lot of different work on how the Energy Web Token is currently being utilized in a variety of different technologies.”
What is the Energy Web Token?
The Energy Web Token (EWT) is a cryptocurrency and utility token specifically created for use within the Energy Web ecosystem. It operates on the Energy Web Chain and serves various purposes within the energy industry. Purposes range from: facilitating decentralized energy markets, supporting grid management, ensuring supply chain traceability, providing digital certificates of origin, integrating into identity and access management systems, and facilitating carbon markets.
The Energy Web Token serves multiple purposes within the energy industry and energy web ecosystem, including:
- Enabling decentralized energy markets: EWT facilitates peer-to-peer energy trading, allowing renewable energy producers and consumers to transact directly without intermediaries.
- Supporting grid management: The token incentivizes grid-balancing actions, such as adjusting energy consumption or deploying energy storage solutions during peak demand periods.
- Ensuring supply chain traceability: EWT tracks the origin and movement of renewable energy, ensuring transparency and accountability in energy supply chains.
- Providing digital certificates of origin: EWT serves as proof of renewable energy’s eco-friendly attributes, aiding compliance with renewable energy standards and regulations.
- Integrating into identity and access management systems: EWT enhances security and efficiency in decentralized energy networks by integrating with identity and access management systems for energy assets.
- Facilitating carbon markets: Given the focus on reducing carbon emissions, EWT can facilitate carbon accounting and trading of carbon credits.
Energy Web’s Ecosystem Milestones of 2023
There were quite a few real-world developments for Energy Web in 2023, mainly that a few of their projects evolved from merely demonstrations to going live commercially.
Edge and Symphony
Two ongoing projects, Edge and Symphony, are located in Australia and have been a main focus for the company. Per the CEO, these projects, “…are transforming the way that customers have assets like rooftop solar systems, batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and air conditioning units.” He stated, “These projects are all about make it simple and easy for those customers and assets to be seamlessly integrated into energy markets. At the end of the day, customers can be paid for those assets and help balance the grid.”
These nascent energy projects have implications for energy management all over the globe. Currently, balancing the grid comes down to communications amongst powerplants and energy management teams, with the goal of offloading electricity at certain points in the day.
He noted that there will be a large-scale shift in the energy sector with the way electric utilities will balance the grid. For example, it could be possible for energy entities to securely communicate with one another between certain assets, letting the asset know not to use energy at a certain time of the day.
Green Proofs
Another project with real-world implications of keeping the grid greener are Green Proofs for BTC and All About Airplanes.
Per Jesse, “Green proofs make it simple for a consortia of energy companies to trace, track, and trade specific kinds of products.” In 2023, two registries were launched, one that is interestingly focused on helping BTC miners prove that they are utilizing renewables. The other project, All About Airplanes, is aiding energy majors and corporations in purchasing certificates that are a representation of the green energy used to fuel planes.
In summary, Energy Web is the organization driving the development and adoption of blockchain technology in the energy sector, while the Energy Web Token is the specific cryptocurrency and utility token designed to support various applications within the Energy Web ecosystem.
Energy Web has been working since 2017 to bring these real-world initiatives to life. These initiatives have the power to change the way energy is managed throughout the world.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
