Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continues to be a global phenomenon, with adoption and utilization cases emerging in almost every corner of the globe. Digital technology has become so popular that it is now a major talking point not only in the financial sector but also in politics and governance. The seven “-stan” countries of Central and South Asia — Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — haven’t shied away from the sweeping digital technology phenomenon. Whether it be revitalizing Afghanistan’s healthcare sector with blockchain adoption or introducing a waiver for crypto mining in Kazakhstan, digital technology utilization appears …

Russia’s national energy grid operator Rosetti is testing a blockchain solution for payments in the retail electricity sector. The system — initiated by Rosseti and developed by the Russian distributed ledger technology (DLT) startup Waves — aims to automate and make transactions between energy producers, suppliers and consumers more transparent, as a Dec. 10 blog post from Waves has outlined. Domestic energy sector battling debt Waves indicates that the main driver for the project is the inefficiency, opacity and mounting debt that currently besets the domestic industry. The blog post cites data from the government of the Russian Federation, which …

The second-largest power utility in Japan is extending its trial of a blockchain-powered system for transacting renewable energy credits. According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 9, the Kansai Electric Power Co Inc (KEPCO) is extending its trial of a blockchain-enabled renewable energy trading platform developed by Australian tech firm Power Ledger. Decentralizing, decarbonizing In 2018, Japan was the world’s fifth-largest consumer of electricity, yet produced only 17.5% of its energy from renewable sources. In May of this year, the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decided to continue its sale of non-fossil fuel value certificates …

The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) will pilot a peer-to-peer (P2P) solar power trading project in partnership with Australian blockchain energy company Power Ledger. The state power utility UP Power Corporation Limited and UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency have partnered with Power Ledger to launch a trial of P2P solar energy trading to examine its practicability, according to a Nov. 28 press release. The first phase of the project is set to be completed by March 2020. During the trial, Power Ledger will integrate its blockchain-based platform with smart meter systems to enable residents with rooftop solar …

Fresh research has challenged the perception that Bitcoin (BTC) mining is irreconcilable with tackling climate change. Major science and technology magazine The New Scientist published a report on the new findings on Nov. 20. Prior research over-reliant on “blanket” assumptions In their study, Susanne Köhler and Massimo Pizzol at Aalborg University in Denmark have criticized the assumptions underlying earlier claims that Bitcoin’s energy consumption may be as high as 63 megatonnes of CO2 annually, the New Scientist notes. Such estimates rest on the assumption that carbon emissions from electricity generation are uniform across China — a country that continues to …

The Excise Department in Thailand is poised to introduce a new way of refunding overpaid taxes to oil exporters by using blockchain technology. On Nov. 25, director-general Patchara Anuntasilpa told the Bangkok Post that the Thailand Excise Department will change its current tax refund practice by introducing a blockchain-based tax payback system, which it hopes to implement by the middle of 2020. One of three blockchain-based pilots Patchara explained that the future tax payback system will require oil exporters to pay excise tax and claim overpaid taxes after they have shipped the fuel. Blockchain technology will make it more efficient …

Society is now witnessing the implementation of digital currencies, AI and blockchain technology worldwide. These new digital technologies require a high consumption of electricity, currently produced predominantly using coal and fossil fuels that adversely impact the environment. A global shift toward green energy will require the removal of the existing regulatory barriers on technology, infrastructure, finance and tax policy. In this series, my articles evaluate the tax, digital technology and solar policies (including space power satellites) of the countries that emit the highest volumes of carbon dioxide. Proving the heliocentric model of our solar system put forward by European scientists …

Some Vermont-based households can now sell their excess renewable energy to businesses through blockchain-based energy startup LO3’s platform. Vermont power utility Green Mountain Power and LO3 jointly launched a pilot project that enables homeowners with solar panels to sell surplus power to businesses served by the utility, industry-focused publication Microgrid Knowledge reported on Nov. 19. 500 MWh in trades per year The project is called Vermont Green and is set to begin in December, with the initial objective to cover 50 businesses and 150 households. The partners expect the program to result in around 500 MWh in trades per year. …

Iranian authorities are offering a bounty to anyone who exposes unauthorized mining operations in the country, Iranian news outlet PressTV reports on Nov. 13. A spokesman of the Energy Ministry announced the bounty program during an interview with local news outlet IRIB News, while illustrating the new electricity pricing mechanism for miners. Mostafa Rajabi, the spokesman in question, said yesterday that people who expose cryptocurrency mining operations that are illicitly using subsidized electricity will receive up to 20% of the recovery of damages. Rajabi told reporters that new regulations ban miners from operating during the hours of peak consumption of …

Australian blockchain energy firm Power Ledger and Indian electricity distribution company BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) have completed a peer-to-peer (P2P) solar power trading trial in the country. Power Ledger announced the news in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Nov. 14, detailing that it carried out a large-scale P2P energy trading trial in the Dwarka region, South West Delhi, which initially comprised 5-6 megawatts (MW) of already existing solar infrastructure serving an array of gated communities. Monetization of solar energy assets investments The project enabled residents with rooftop solar infrastructure to sell excess solar energy to neighboring households. …

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, spoke at BlockShow Asia 2019 about the importance of blockchain for the economy, highlighting its indispensability for the development of green finance. Mohanty defined green finance as follows: “How to monitor, how to measure, and how to mobilize finance for green assets.” He said blockchain can unite all three components. Climate change is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics of the 21st century. This week Venice, Italy saw its biggest flood since 1966, and it caused irreversible damage to the city. The recent disaster reveals the inability of current …

Bjarne Stroustrup, a Danish computer scientist and the creator of C++ programming language, has vented his frustration with use of C++ in Bitcoin (BTC) mining. Stroustrup made his remarks during an interview for Lex Friedman’s podcast released on Nov. 7. Speaking with Friedman, Stroustrup provided an extensive insight into the evolution of C++, the language’s concepts, implementations and efficiency. Although Stroustrup noted that programming languages generally have large user bases that use them in ways they were not designed for, he expressed disappointment that Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, chose C++ as the fundamental language to write the original implementation of …