Episode #144: Tomorrow’s Electricity Today

OK, this week we are planeteers because we are going to chat about renewable energy technologies. You see, generating electricity from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels offers significant public health benefits AND  market research shows that many customers will purchase renewable power even if it costs somewhat more than conventional power. But there are barriers. This chicken-and-egg problem is especially difficult with technologies that have long lives. However, scaling up manufacturing of new technologies too quickly can create its own problems, such as shortages of skilled labor and bottlenecks in parts supplies.

Enter…PowerLedger. They allow renewable energy asset owners to decide who they want to sell their surplus energy to and at what price. Using blockchain technology, they provide a transparent, auditable and automated market trading and clearing mechanism for the benefit of producers and consumers. The technology enables the sale of surplus renewable energy generated at residential and commercial developments and at homes and businesses connected to existing electricity distribution networks, or within micro-grids. Power Ledger puts the power to manage the energy economy into the hands of consumers, while maintaining the value of exisiting distribution networks. David Martin and Nuno Martins join us to get a first hand account of this.