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Energy Blockchain A Strong Contender For The Future

Dashboard has previously reported about how excited we are for the emerging blockchain technology as well as new energy solutions that are surfacing.

In both we have seen the rise of a common trend: decentralisation has been a popular idea among many promising start ups. The rising appeal to investors can be seen as well, for example through the following two companies with innovative, sharing-based technologies at their core.

The sharing technology (or sharing economy) is familiar to many through companies such as Uber and Airbnb, where it has made a huge impact on how consumers call for a transportation service or arrange their accommodation away from home. Conjoule and Share&Charge, two German companies, intend to use blockchain to the same avail as Uber and Airbnb, but in the energy industry.

Conjoule, has just attracted a €3 million investment from TEPCO in a round which totalled €4.5 million. Their concept is, in fact, very similar to Uber and Airbnb: they provide a platform where account holders with solar panels can sell the surplus energy from their instalment to users who need it, without an energy company to act as a middle man. Currently, it is being trialled in two German cities, Essen and Muelheim.

Share&Charge is a more future-facing endeavour in that its target market is only in its infancy. Their iOS and Android application allows users to post their charging stations for Electric Vehicles (EV) along with individual prices and payment options. Such a system helps EV drivers avoid centralised stations with static prices and find more suitable options from private sources. The credit that is then received by the provider can be either spent on another EV location or cashed out. The pilot programme commenced on August 1st.

Both of these fresh ideas empower the individual provider rather than big companies. Dashboard’s perspective on this, however, is that these two platforms focus on distributing energy more efficiently than ever before and giving the consumer more choice rather than specifically avoiding centralised companies. Judging on similar efforts of sharing economy, we believe there is a future for the two companies, even if some development is needed yet.