Blockchain, sustainability and clean energy transition
Elena G. Popkova, Aleksei V. Bogoviz, Svetlana V. Lobova, Natalia G. Vovchenko, Bruno S. Sergi
Abstract
The digital economy's neo-industrialization self-accelerates resource consumption and wide automatization inevitably envisage a technological leap. The article contributes conceptually and empirically to a systemic vision of blockchain to sort out climate change challenges and clean energy transition and simultaneously increase the productivity and efficiency of good practices. This vision covers the popularization of ecological initiatives, waste reduction, organization of sustainable investments, control over responsibilities on both fighting and forecasting climate change and clean energy transition. By embracing the notion of blockchain as a problem-solving tool for climate change and clean energy transition, the paper draws and investigates the experiences of the 36 digitally developed and 25 digitally developing economies. It also examines the effectiveness of alternative practices in Industry 4.0. The paper's findings represent a systematic vision of implementing blockchain initiatives to solve climate change and clean energy transition. An energy-efficient model with a blockchain opens up massive opportunities for ecological monitoring, supports energy transition and ameliorates economic sustainability. Since the blockchain potential is not fully unlocked, a model expanding the use of blockchain in education to train green personnel and in science to support climate innovations is proposed.