This New Cryptocurrency Is Tackling Bitcoin's Energy Crisis

This time each year, I get to write the following...

As you read this, Marina and I are somewhere over the Atlantic in route to the annual Energy Consultation at Windsor Castle outside London.

While the royal family is in residence at the castle, the select meeting is held under a charter from Queen Elizabeth II during the first weekend of March each year.

Included among the assembled dignitaries are ambassadors, ministers, CEOs, international organization officials, and globally recognized energy experts.

Dr. Moors addressing the Windsor delegates, Vicar's Hall, Windsor Castle, March 4, 2017

In addition to plenary sessions held in the fabled "Vicar's Hall" (the same room where Shakespeare held the first performance of "The Merry Wives of Windsor"), each meeting includes a traditional briefing to ambassadors held in the dungeon of the castle.

Dr. Moors and Paul Tempest, former Bank of England principal and Director General of the World Petroleum Council, leading the ambassadors to the traditional Dungeon Briefing, Windsor Castle, March 4, 2017

As I noted in the last edition of Oil & Energy Investor, we expect some very interesting discussions on possible breakthroughs in batteries and storage system technologies.

For many parts of the world, the provision of regular electricity is the single most important priority.

This is why I have often termed it the "Holy Grail" in energy...

Renewable Energy's Storage Problems

The ability to store generated power will singlehandedly turn renewables like solar and wind into a major driving force in the emerging global energy balance.

A breakthrough here would also increase efficiency and lower costs for all types of power sourcing.

Currently, the intermittent nature of solar and wind power (the sun doesn't shine 24/7, and the wind isn't always blowing) means more traditional generation sources must remain online to cover the slack periods or those in which demand peaks.

The Saudis have invested $100 billion into one type of fuel, and I'm not talking about oil. This universal fuel is slated for a global takeover. Here's how you can take part...

Electricity must be used when it is generated; there is no way to keep it in reserve and then release it as needed.

That makes our upcoming Windsor discussions so intriguing.

Because on the agenda are some of the biggest trend-setting developments happening around the world.

Including some breaking news from the world of cryptocurrency that could help solve the "Holy Grail" in energy's biggest problem.

Bitcoin's (Growing) Energy Appetite

Bitcoin and other digital currencies have had a widespread impact across multiple sectors, including energy.

I have previously discussed energy as the major ingredient in figuring the costs of mining such coins (i.e., the setting up the blockchains from which new coins emerge).

The entire Bitcoin network now consumes more energy than a number of countries, based on a report published by the International Energy Agency.

In fact, if Bitcoin were a country, it would rank between Serbia and Denmark in energy consumption.


In October, James Stafford of Oilprice.com estimated that Bitcoin mining consumes 22.5 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy annually, which amounts to 13,239,916 barrels of oil equivalent.

With 12.5 bitcoins mined every 10 minutes, that means the average energy cost of one Bitcoin would equate to 20 barrels of oil equivalent.

But there could be a development underway in crypto that could impact the cost of providing and receiving electricity as well.

As crypto's energy consumption rate continues to increase, there will be a continued focus on the cost of the electricity needed to mine "coins."

But it has also raised renewed concerns over how electricity is produced.

China has been the net beneficiary of mining activity, due to the low cost of electricity in the country. Unfortunately, given the source of fuel for that power generation - poor-quality coal - the result has been a further focus on the negative environmental impact.

Recently, I had suggested that a move of coin mining to colder climates like Iceland and Sweden would serve to lower energy consumption and, thereby, reliance on inferior fuel sourcing to keep costs down.

However, a new proposal has just hit that may have an even more pervasive impact...

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The New "Utility" Coin

A new initiative called 4NEW has proposed the "world's first eco-friendly, tangible, waste-to-energy Blockchain solution."

4NEW's premise is to take waste products like tires, plastics, medical waste, carpets, textiles, wood wastes, oil liquid waste, chemical waste, raw food packaging, animal by-products, and any type of hazardous and non-hazardous waste and transform them into a usable energy source.

This energy can then be sold to the national grid or used to power 4NEW's mining farm.

Their white paper explains that it will be cost-effective.

"The cost to produce the energy is met through the revenue generated from the waste collection services and sale of byproducts facilitating a sustainable operation at breakeven or a marginal profit. Therefore, the energy produced is unencumbered and freely available for utilization or sale to the national grid."

As the company explained in its white paper, the integral piece of this system is its unique 4NEW crypto token, KWATT (an Ethereum-based contract).

Each "coin" currently embodies 1 kilowatt (kW) of electricity, with the retail price per kW of electricity averaging around 15 cents.

Following the ICO (initial coin offering) for KWATT, slated to end March 31, 4NEW has said that it plans to open two new renewable-powered mining sites in the United Kingdom.

Once completed, these sites will be able to initially produce 10 megawatts of electricity per hour and up to 40 megawatts per hour, once the systems start running at maximum capacity.

But the most crucial detail to come from the proposal was this...

"As 4NEW will produce their own energy, they can apply their own fixed price to sales, leading to a standardization of fees. This sets it apart from other blockchains, which must purchase their energy externally. This blockchain enables KWATT coin holders to either sell the energy within their coins to the national grid or utilize them on 4NEW's mining farms."

4NEW is a pioneer when it comes to "tokenizing" electricity. They are also the first blockchain-focused infrastructure project, which is refreshing to see.

As the daunting statistics surrounding the energy costs associated with Bitcoin and other crypto mining continue to grow, it only goes to highlight the urgent need this fledgling industry has for renewable energy.

A problem that 4NEW is working hard to facilitate.

Now, much of this awaits actual results from tangible market experience, but 4NEW may be able to provide combined generation/end usage energy advantages while tapping into the expanding world of introducing digital currencies.

Now, as I've said before, the jury is still out on Bitcoin's sustainability.

But in the current environment, there is significant profit to be made by finding niche players with huge upside potential in the more tangible elements of the process.

Energy is certainly one example, and you can rest assured that I'll be looking for ways for us to profit.

Meantime, Tom Gentile – America's No. 1 Pattern Trader and my colleague here at Money Map Press – is prepared to reveal the secret for how you could turn a small stake into $44,000 – on one crypto coin. Click here to learn more.

The post This New Cryptocurrency Is Tackling Bitcoin's Energy Crisis appeared first on Oil & Energy Investor.

About the Author

Dr. Kent Moors is an internationally recognized expert in oil and natural gas policy, risk assessment, and emerging market economic development. He serves as an advisor to many U.S. governors and foreign governments. Kent details his latest global travels in his free Oil & Energy Investor e-letter. He makes specific investment recommendations in his newsletter, the Energy Advantage. For more active investors, he issues shorter-term trades in his Energy Inner Circle.

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