We advise and consult on practical applications of blockchain technology

We work with governments and businesses across sectors to advise them on applying blockchain and how to enter the next era of sustainability powered by frontier technologies. We deep dive into problems, critically assess the need for blockchain, evaluate the feasibility of concepts and deliver actionable strategies, policy recommendations and capacity building. 

Are you interested in applying blockchain technology to solve climate problems in your industry?

Space10

SolarVille: Democratising Access to Clean Energy

Client: Space10 (IKEA’s research and design lab)

Collaborators: BlockTech

Deliverables: A working prototype of a secure and decentralised energy trading platform for microgrid renewable energy.

Billions of people around the world still have little to no access to electricity, millions of which have absolutely no access at all. The SolarVille project reimagines our energy system in the pursuit of democratising access to clean energy.

BLOC partnered with Space10, IKEA’s research and design lab, to demonstrate how solar panels, micro-grids and blockchain can offer new opportunities for off-grid systems. Visualized in a miniature, wooden village, SolarVille is a working prototype of a self-sufficient, community-driven microgrid where people trade renewable, affordable energy. Using solar panels and artificial sun, some households generate renewable energy, while others automatically purchase excess electricity directly from the producer.​ The use of blockchain creates a secure and decentralised trading platform for the widespread deployment of renewable, distributed energy resources. Blockchain verifies and records energy transactions and enables people to trade directly on a peer-to-peer basis.

Our joint report, ‘A Brighter Tomorrow’, provides more insights into the research behind SolarVille and makes the case for solar power becoming the viable, sustainable source of energy to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

Copenhagen Solutions Lab

EnergyBlock: Sandbox for Sustainable Energy Solutions

Deliverables: Concept feasibility and blockchain prototype for meter-to-meter transactions.

EnergyBlock was a testing area for sustainable solutions based on decentralized energy and blockchain technology. Located in Copenhagen’s north-west quarter, the initiative aimed to investigate and demonstrate the potential of the use of renewable energy sources in an urban environment.

Led by BLOC and Copenhagen Solutions Lab, this community based project was funded through the Climate-KIC Smart Sustainable Districts programme and by Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak. EnergyBlock investigated and analyzed the benefits of a combined business case of decentralized energy production, food production, and social inclusion.

In order to sell energy at a local level, a system is needed that can handle the transactions between peers and neighbors. Blockchain technology was seen as a means to support a solution where meter-to-meter transactions can be performed in a secure and transparent way. BLOC’s role was to help build and develop this blockchain prototype, which was entirely open source in an effort to serve as an educational example upon which students and coders could build applications and new business models for decentralized energy production.