2022 was one of the toughest years for the energy markets worldwide in our recent history. The year was marked by geopolitical conflicts that caused rapid price increases of multiple energy sources, causing higher inflation levels across the board. At the same time, we have rising energy demands, with forecasts for power consumption to triple by 2050. A considerable margin also misses environmental targets despite the collective efforts of multiple countries.
On a good note, the sector also showed promising developments in some key areas. Renewable energy sources are seeing increasing adoption rates, a trend that we need to continue to push on if we want to reach a higher degree of energy independence and, most importantly, a sustainable future for our planet. According to McKinsey, more countries are committing to sustainability targets, and the share of the biggest polluters in terms of energy sources is decreasing.
Decarbonice is a new blockchain-based energy ecosystem that aims to push the adoption of renewables to new heights while also introducing a disruptive model for cost savings of up to 80%. We asked their team about the future of the energy sector and their thoughts on its current state.
Can you give us a high-level overview of the recent developments in energy across the board – are we moving in the right direction, or are we headed for failure?
There have been some achievements and downfalls in energy recently. Weighting both and saying which comes on top is a difficult task, as it would require us to have a methodology allowing us to quantify the positive and negative developments to bring them on the same level and compare them. However, in our opinion, this is hardly possible – how are we, for example, to evaluate the influence of pollution and climate change in the same way we are analyzing price movements across sub-energy sectors?
If we look at the negative developments, one is the high prices that put tremendous pressure on the cost structures of households and businesses. Another problem is the lack of energy independence of the same stakeholders, which forces them to rely on big electricity providers. Last but not least, we are missing our environmental targets – currently, active policies and energy behavior remain largely insufficient to achieve our goals.
On the bright side, we are witnessing a rapid adoption of renewable energy sources – the two key factors for this reality are the strict regulatory measures and the technological progress in these that have contributed both to their lower costs and higher efficiency. Decarbonization technologies are being adopted across all sectors, and the degree of electrification is greatly increasing.
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Plug-ins like electric vehicles are showing promising developments and are becoming mainstream. Fossil fuel demand is expected to peak over the following years and start declining while investments in renewables are growing. We are certainly on the right course in many important areas; the question is whether we are getting there as fast as we need to.
Are you optimistic about the foreseeable future for the energy sector?
Yes, we are optimistic and hopeful that we can work towards a better future for all stakeholders in the energy sector. This is the main reason we decided to create the Decarbonice project – we have been in the renewable energy markets for more than a decade now and we have a deep understanding of the potential renewable technologies possess.
Humanity has so far merely scratched the surface of what we can achieve in this area and we are certain of the possibility of the concept of a fully carbon-neutral planet that derives its energy entirely through ways that are not harming the environment. And we can achieve this reality without sacrificing energy consumption or increasing the cost for the consumers. It is all a matter of technological progress and a shared vision across industry players and governments.
How are you enforcing these values through your project and what is your mission?
When we were creating the Decarbonice project, we had one main problem we wanted to solve – how can we make renewable energy accessible, easy to understand, cheap, and worthwhile for as many people and businesses as we can. This is what we channeled our efforts towards and how the idea for our blockchain-based energy ecosystem was born.
Our model is fairly simple, yet it relies on multiple interconnected aspects that reinforce each other. We are providing every household and business with the possibility of acquiring renewable energy installations – including the instructions on setting them up and getting them operational – at little to no risk and low initial investment.
The only requirement is that investors lock a predefined number of the ecosystem’s native PNE tokens as collateral, ensuring we can mitigate our risk by supplying the hardware units. From there, our business model works on a recurrent payment basis – users can produce and consume clean energy with the hardware units, for which they have to pay us, but at much lower costs than what they are currently paying their electricity supplier.
In fact, we guarantee at least 20% lower costs that could reach up to 80% depending on different factors – such as the amount of excess energy fed back to the grid, for which we are eligible to royalties according to legislations in multiple EU countries, or the CO2 certificates that we can acquire due to being a climate-positive venture.
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After they have generated enough clean energy that is defined upfront. Investors acquire the full ownership rights on the hardware units and receive back their locked collateral, accumulating additional rewards over time – similarly to known concepts within the cryptocurrency world like staking. The PNE token, the first cryptocurrency that generates more energy than it consumes within our operational model, is also further supported by multiple mechanisms such as buybacks and burning.
Decarbonice is soon going to hold a crowdsale with various bonuses for early adopters. To learn more about the project, how the ecosystem works, and the advantages for token holders.
