While governments around the world move at a snail’s pace to implement regulations to combat climate change, consumers are starting to take things into their own hands by adopting new technologies to help them reduce their energy usage and access green energy sources on their own terms.
One company that offers its users the capabilities of IoT, AI, and blockchain technologies all rolled into one is Lition, the world’s first blockchain peer-to-peer green energy trading platform. In March of 2018, the Berlin-based company obtained its license to operate as an energy supplier and presently has customers in 11 German cities and can be accessed by up to 41 million households in that country.
Lition’s blockchain capability, along with its user-friendly web and mobile designed customer portal, simplifies the process of buying energy directly from sustainable energy producers of their choice without the need for intermediaries or cumbersome contracts with multinational companies.
German residents can easily sign up and start buying their green energy directly from producers right now. Once the switch takes place, they simply sign into the platform and choose the green energy source and how much they would like to purchase. Because they are buying directly from the source, users can enjoy up to 30% savings.
The initial development of the app was built on Ethereum-20, but in order to deliver smoother and faster service to users, Lition is currently developing their own blockchain infrastructure that will use both public nodes and privileged sidechains to protect private information.
But Lition is evolving into much more than a green energy trading platform. The decentralized app [or dApp] also integrates IoT technology with AI capability. Its smart metering function lets users hook up a small Wifi-enabled device to their home’s fuse box, which tracks energy usage right down to each household appliance connected to the system.
The platform is built with an intuitive interface that allows users to collect and track data on when and how energy is consumed in their household. Equipped with this detailed information, consumers have all the control for making informed choices about how much energy they purchase and at what times.
Meanwhile, energy providers can make use of the same data generated by users to build unique, time-based offers for customers who might, in turn, choose to use certain appliances at “off-peak” times in order to enjoy lower costs.
Dr. Richard Lohwasser, Lition’s CEO says, “After working as a managing director, researcher, and consultant in the energy sector for over 10 years, I realized the consumer literally had no power when it comes to buying clean energy. Large utility companies have enjoyed increasing profits because they are built on complex systems and lack operational transparency. Our aim at Lition is to change all of that. Our users have complete knowledge about what kind of energy they are purchasing and where it comes from.”
Dr. Lohwasser also points out, “As green energy demand continues to grow, producers will seek to provide what consumers want. There’s no way for producers to sneak dirty coal energy into a clean energy mix with Lition because of our blockchain’s transparency.”
You can find out more about Lition and their blockchain technology by clicking here.
