IOEN: The Metaverse of Energy

What would a DeFi metaverse for energy look like in 2030? How can new crypto mechanisms help solve the energy problems of today and improve people’s lives for the future.

Crypto and energy have had a love-hate relationship over the last ten years. One of the biggest controversies in crypto and energy is how much energy is consumed to mine cryptocurrency.  The University of Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, for example, calculates that the global bitcoin network currently consumes about 97 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, more than the annual output of 23 coal-fired power plants, which is more than the entire nation of the Philippines consumes in a year. The rise in solar energy adoption also gave rise to crypto protocols aiming to enable more peer-to-peer transactions, with large players, like Mitsubishi, coming into the mix.

But one fundamental problem remains: how crypto as a virtual system can be easily integrated into complex physical systems of energy. It seems the problem is not peer-to-peer, and it’s not generation, it’s integration. Clean energy is now the world’s cheapest energy source, but the existing grid requires $500 billion annual investment to be able to integrate the renewable energy we need to achieve 2050. Even more, if the world is to move to net zero emissions by 2030 and absolute zero by 2050.

The standard approach to the integration of new energy assets won’t cut it, especially as a new wave of energy innovations is arriving. But a new protocol promises to bring the advances in DeFi and mutual credit to change the way we finance, integrate, and proliferate clean energy.

Building the new internet… of energy.

The Internet of Energy Network (IOEN – pronounced “ion”), a community-driven network aiming to build a new energy economy powered by blockchain and Holochain, is being launched to rewrite the crypto-energy story and provide the future of energy.

IOEN’s mission is to create a digital infrastructure for clean energy powered by microgrids and help the ambitious goal of reaching global net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

IOEN brings a unique approach to use token utility to bootstrap multiple virtual microgrids around the world, building device by device. Their Proof of Productivity model rewards users for taking energy actions and connecting their devices to others, working like bees in a hive to accomplish grid stability and clean energy integration.

Working with UN award-winning clients and delivering projects, IOEN’s backing organisation, RedGrid, has delivered the technology interfaces to power the network and rolling out the initial parts of the network. Their team includes international leaders in blockchain, electrical engineering, and carbon finance, and now they are bringing the network to life as they launch the IOEN token, bridging energy optimisation, integration, DeFi, and NFTs.

Why crypto and connectivity is so important

Without connectivity our electrical grids don’t work. But the wave of clean energy technologies means that the grids are overloaded and they aren’t smart enough to take the new energy that is needed for people to improve economic conditions. IOEN is the next generation of digital energy management and optimisation. IOEN tech enables an interconnected system of virtual minigrids that facilitate transactions within and between local energy ecosystems: from the appliance level to energy generation, storage, and consumption.

Using two currency layers, the IOEN token (ERC-20) enables everyday token holders to take part in staking, to unlock DeFi benefits from supporting local energy economies. It is the backbone of the new tokenized energy ecosystem, building out the global clean energy network wherever you are, device by device.  Built on Holochain, the Internet of Energy Network is built on two currency layers: IOEN itself is an ERC-20 token that is used as a staking asset to unlock new minigrid economies. This is complemented by a series of Internet of Energy Currency (IOEC) credit systems unique to each community transacting with energy their local minigrid. This is a unique model that has been showcased in the example …

The team has delivered key milestones on the project so far to deliver the mobile application for the system, connect with major smart device providers, and secure major international partnerships. The IOEN approach with its open-source protocol, gamification of energy actions, and inclusion of exclusive NFTs, brings the new world of DeFi and the old world of energy together. Their roadmap includes working with education systems, property, and the existing energy and blockchain players to deliver the unique IOEN value proposition. The team aims to deliver the IOEN mainnet in early 2022 and start rolling out the bootstrapped virtual microgrids shortly thereafter.