Review of Blockchain Technology and its Expectations: Case of the Energy Sector

TL;DR

This paper reviews blockchain technology's features and its potential impact on the energy sector, assessing whether its anticipated benefits are materializing, and concludes with cautious optimism about its future influence.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of blockchain features and evaluates its actual developments and impacts within the energy sector.

Findings

Blockchain has the potential to transform energy sector operations.

Current developments show cautious progress towards expected impacts.

The technology's impact is still emerging and not fully realized.

Abstract

This article suggests that the worldwide relevance of blockchain technology is motivated by the changes that it is expected to cause in: (i) the way that business is organised and (ii) regulated, as well as (iii) by the way that it changes the role of individuals within a society. The article presents an overview of the features of blockchain technology. It then takes a closer look into the developments within the energy sector across the world to gain a preliminary indication of whether the stated expectations are coming to reality. As a result of this review, we remain cautiously optimistic that blockchain technology could deliver the expected impact.