An announcement on 7 January 2019 stated that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will be granting $4.8 million to fund technological research in universities which includes blockchain technology. The announcement was made by the DOE’s office of fossil energy.

According to the announcement, projects which are eligible to benefit from the funding are those related to emerging technologies such as “blockchain and decentralized, peer-to-peer internet protocols”. The funding aims to promote research projects that will improve the securing of data from fossil power generation sensors.

The DOE approximated that the department will allocate the funding to up to 12 projects. Completed research projects will then be used in fossil-based power generation systems to enhance data processing from sensors to be more secure. Additionally, the newly developed systems will also be used in distributed sensor networks to process undetermined flows of information.

Other countries have started paying attention to technological research and projects that included the development of blockchain technology and digital assets. For example, South Korea intend to invest $3.5 million in building up a blockchain-powered virtual power plant (VPP) in Busan, the country’s second largest city after Seoul. The blockchain centre is said to be modelled after Zug’s Crypto Alley in Switzerland.

Other than that, Acciona Energia, a Spanish renewable energy firm, is also interested in utilising blockchain technology in its operations. The company, recognized as one of the largest firms in the renewable energy industry, will reportedly apply blockchain technology to trace generation of electricity.