ZUG, Switzerland , Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In support of the Crypto Climate Accord (CCA), Protocol Labs and Energy Web today announced a successful showcase of an open-source solution for decentralized renewable energy purchasing by crypto miners. In this solution showcase, six Filecoin storage providers purchased verified renewable energy from 3Degrees using Energy Web Zero, a public renewable energy search engine. The solution will eventually be applicable across any blockchain to make it easy for any crypto miner to deliver proof of green mining.
The CCA is a private sector-led initiative to decarbonize the crypto sector with open-source decentralized solutions and promote best industry practices. Energy Web is a co-convener of the CCA and both Protocol Labs and 3Degrees are CCA Supporters.
In the showcase announced today, renewable energy purchases are recorded in Filrep, a reputation system used by clients aiming to store data on the decentralized Filecoin network. Integrating renewable energy data from Energy Web Zero into the reputation system allows clients to factor renewables into their decision when choosing a storage provider. Each record on Filrep points to a verification page in Energy Web Zero, showing where the energy was produced, documenting the renewable source, and providing an attestation certificate proving ownership of the corresponding renewable energy credits.
Over the next year, Protocol Labs and Energy Web will create a package of open-source solutions that make it easy for all Filecoin storage providers to search for and purchase renewable energy on Energy Web Zero. Both Filecoin storage providers and clients will be able to verify procurement to substantiate their environmental claims because it is anchored on the public Energy Web Chain making it traceable to existing renewable energy registries as well as individual solar, wind, and hydroelectric power projects.
The full cross-chain solution to be deployed in mid-2022 will create a unique decentralized identifier (DID) on the Energy Web Chain for each Filecoin storage provider who chooses to participate and link storage providers’ renewable energy purchases to their respective DIDs. This linking of a given Filecoin storage provider’s DID with verified green Filecoin mining will enable that storage provider to reflect their zero-carbon status in the Filecoin Reputation System, and allow energy attributes to be traced from client to storage provider to individual renewable energy projects.
This cross-chain solution being developed can be extended to miners in other ecosystems because the underlying technical architecture will leverage the verifiable, interoperable hash links that are the basis of Web3 technologies such as IPFS and all blockchains. The project will therefore support the development of verifiably renewable crypto mining projects such as Green Hashrate.
Protocol Labs and Energy Web will share progress updates over the months ahead in advance of releasing commercial ready open-source solutions.
About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global, member-driven nonprofit accelerating the low-carbon, customer-centric energy transition by unleashing the potential of open-source, digital technologies. We enable any energy asset, owned by any customer, to participate in any energy market. The Energy Web Chain — the world’s first enterprise-grade, public blockchain tailored to the energy sector — anchors our tech stack. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, grid operators, renewable energy developers, corporate energy buyers, IoT / telecom leaders, and others.
For more, please visit https://energyweb.org.