Energy: Brown versus Green

Do you really care where your energy comes from?

It’s a sad reality. Most people just don’t think about where their energy comes from. Brown energy; fossil fuels like coal or oil — dirty, smelly, gooey and messy, versus green energy; renewable energy sources such as solar or wind — ahhh, feel the fresh air. We all know brown energy clearly pollutes and harms the environment and, obviously, green energy is better for all of us, but when it comes down to it, it just doesn’t matter enough for most consumers to change their energy consumption behaviour.

What does matter, for most consumers, is the cost of the energy. If it hits hard in the wallet, it matters. So if a customer can choose the source of their energy, chances are, for the most part, most consumers choose the cheapest source, no matter what it is.

Granted, there are those who are more actively concerned and purposely seek out greener sources of energy — people who are passionately concerned and active in the battle against pollution and climate change — but by and large, this is not the case. For the average Joe, it’s all about cost, at the end of the day.

Subsidies and Penalties

So, governments who actively seek to change power grids over to green energy might dangle an artificial carrot on a stick — providing subsidies for renewable energy sources — making it artificially cheaper — or by just using the stick — penalising brown energy sources, coercing customers to begrudgingly change behaviour with additional fees or taxes, or else!

For now, with the renewable energy sector in its infancy, it still costs more to derive energy from renewables. This is temporary, as the cost of renewable energy is dropping, and quickly. Solar energy, in particular, is getting cheaper as technology is becoming more efficient and cost-effective. But in the meantime, while costs are still higher for green energy, how could consumers be coaxed into choosing green energy without bureaucratic systems of reward and punishment?

What if a token system rewarded green energy choices, providing a monetary reward for choosing renewable sources? What if, instead of a complicated and costly system involving a large bureaucratic workload with artificial rewards and punishments, these rewards could be implemented via blockchain smart contracts and through the free exchange of energy between generators and consumers without a centralised agency?

Energi Token makes it matter

A token exists for this purpose: Energi Token, or ETK. It is an Ethereum-based ERC20 token that, once disseminated to consumers, businesses, and other agencies, could be used as a method of payment and reward for energy generation and consumption. Consumers, choosing to use renewable energy, could be rewarded for their green decision with tokens that can be used to purchase the energy, perhaps from a neighbour who generates a surplus of solar power, maybe from a solar farm in a nearby county, or possibly from a wind farm off the coast. Renewable energy generators could sell their green energy to customers directly for the tokens, which circulate through the economy. This not only motivates the consumption of renewable or green energy; it also encourages its production.

Consumers will care more if the choices they make consuming energy directly impact their pocketbooks. The Energi Token will motivate greener energy consumption — a key in the battle against pollution and climate change. ETK makes the choice between brown and green energy matter.