Tata Power DDL, a leading electricity distribution company that serves over seven million residents in North Delhi, is piloting a solar energy trading project together with Australian blockchain firm PowerLedger and the India Smart Grid Forum, or ISGF. The pilot, which runs until June, aims to enable the development of distributed energy infrastructure and electronic trading resources that will encourage consumers to become prosumers — consumers who also produce — by selling their excess rooftop solar power in a peer-to-peer marketplace. Using PowerLedger's blockchain technology to provide transparent settlement of energy trades, the pilot will test out various trading algorithms, …

Authorities of the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia have proposed closing down all local cryptocurrency mining facilities to reduce energy consumption in the region. The Inner Mongolia National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, released an official proposal to shut down local crypto mining operations in line with its energy-saving rules. Published Thursday of last week, the draft proposal suggests to “comprehensively clean up and shut down virtual currency mining projects” by the end of April. The authority also proposed a strict ban on new cryptocurrency mining projects in the region. The NDRC will collect public feedback on the …

Belarus is studying the cryptocurrency industry for a potential move into mining digital coins like Bitcoin (BTC). The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Belarus officially announced Friday that it is actively exploring the pros and cons of cryptocurrency mining. Minister Viktor Karankevich said that the crypto mining industry is rapidly growing all over the world in countries like China, the United States, Canada and Russia. The minister went on to say that the government is considering tapping into the mining industry following an investigation of the potential risks and other factors: “This is a new direction for us …

Though many Texans are still suffering in the aftermath of a winter storm that left millions without power and running water for days, it’s unlikely that the crypto mining farms in the state played much of a role during the crisis. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kristy-Leigh Minehan, a mining consultant and chief technology officer of NEM Software, said Texas doesn’t currently have enough mining hardware in operation to cause significant problems in the power grid when compared with that of major regions like Sichuan. According to Minehan, German Bitcoin (BTC) mining operator Northern Data is likely the only one that could …

Luzboa, a small energy trading company in Portugal, will soon start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for electricity. The company’s president Pedro Morais Leitão announced the news to Portuguese publication Expresso on Wednesday, stating that the new payment option should become available this month. According to the executive, Luzboa will create a Bitcoin wallet in the coming days, allowing residents to pay for electricity under a new payment system known as “Bit Spot.” According to Leitão, the firm plans to instantly convert received Bitcoin into euros to protect its business from unstable prices. “We are aware of currency volatility, but …

Global cryptocurrency mining operators are increasingly moving their equipment to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States as they chase lower energy prices. Igor Runets, founder and CEO of Russian crypto mining firm BitRiver, told local news agency Kommersant Thursday that the company is actively building up its power capacity to meet increasing demand from American and European investors. According to the executive, BitRiver has run out of spare capacity at its data centers, having fully reserved all of its power for the next 18 months. During this period, the company expects to co-locate mining equipment of total mining power …

The exponential rise in Bitcoin’s price and hash rate is driving critics to once again question the largest blockchain’s energy efficiency — with calls for “green hackers” to band together to mount an attack on the network. A self styled “developer and ecologist” who goes by the name of Franck Leroy created Twitter and Medium accounts this month to advocate the destruction of the Bitcoin network through “ethical hacking.” In a post titled “Green hackers around the world, let’s destroy Bitcoin” Leroy states that Bitcoin is an “irrational and destructive financial bubble” that is hugely damaging to the climate due …

The recent surge of Bitcoin (BTC) price has driven notable growth in the amount of electricity consumed by Bitcoin miners, spurring another wave of argument in the community over the ecology of the seminal cryptocurrency. According to the latest data from Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, Bitcoin energy consumption has been at its highest historical levels since late 2020, with the estimated annual consumption level staying above 75 TWh for a record period of time. Bitcoin is now estimated to consume around 77.8 TWh per year, which is as much power as consumed by Chile. Bitcoin’s carbon footprint — the …

Bitcoin arouses passion, curiosity and has received more and more media attention, especially after having climbed the ranks of the best financial asset of the decade. However, whenever its price goes up, many doubts and questions arise, mainly around its origin and the energy expenditure by miners. The Bitcoin protocol has created a unique digital asset To understand how Bitcoin (BTC) is created and what mining is, the key is the double-spending problem. Before Bitcoin, there was neither a digital value to be transferred nor a digital asset to be divided into several parts. That is, if you scanned a …

Mitsubishi Electric has teamed up with researchers from the prestigious Japanese university, Tokyo Tech, to jointly design a blockchain-based trading system that can support more flexible, peer-to-peer energy trading. Announced on Jan. 18, the new system is intended to support the efficient use of surplus electricity that is generated from renewable energy sources. In particular, it is hoped that the trading system can ensure that at any given moment, there will be the maximum available amount of surplus electricity accessible on the market for consumers. Peer-to-peer energy trading set-ups allow consumers and prosumers to engage in direct trading as buyers …

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s new token, Efforce (WOZX), almost doubled in price today after an astonishing run that saw the price increase around 26 times in the past week. WOZX will open for trading on South Korea-based exchange Bithumb on Dec. 9, and is already up 2,490% since first being listed on the HBTC exchange on Dec. 3. It opened at $0.10 per token and is currently trading at $2.59. Ethereum blockchain token WOZX is a way to securitize energy savings. The token has a total supply of one billion and was sold via private funding rounds conducted earlier this …

A three-year pilot scheme for an innovative blockchain-based electric vehicle charging platform has received $1 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada, a department of the country’s government. The scheme promises to reduce the cost of electric vehicle charging transactions and enhance power grid efficiency, according to an article on the independent Electric Autonomy Canada platform. The pilot will take place at two multi-tenanted office buildings in downtown Toronto, and is run by electric vehicle charging platform SWTCH Energy and intelligent energy software developer Opus One Solutions. The innovation comes through the understanding that electric vehicles aren’t just alternatively-powered cars, …