The Power of Positive Blockchain Series

Episode 1: A Blockchain Beacon Lighting the Way

By now, we’ve all heard and read about blockchain. The tech buzzword as of late is thrown around and slapped on all sorts of projects. So many of these projects do not need blockchain because it simply doesn’t make sense or isn’t cost effective. I am beginning a series of articles highlighting the companies and projects using this technology effectively and for the right reasons: to make our world a better place. The projects I’m spotlighting are making positive impacts economically and environmentally.

A paradigm shift is under way in the developing world, where billions of people still live without access to electricity. The cumbersome process of providing electricity access through grid extension alone is becoming obsolete as new business models and technologies enable the development of off-grid markets. Markets for both mini-grids and standalone systems are evolving rapidly.

—2017 Global Status Report 1

Impact PPA

The first company I want to share with you is Impact PPA. Impact PPA is an Ethereum based, decentralized energy platform bringing pay-as-you-go, clean & renewable energy to emerging markets worldwide. Impact PPA uses blockchain to bring capital and consumers together directly & quickly. As blockchain requires no 3rd party authorization, they can bypass traditional legacy institutional grids & government agencies that have unfairly monopolized the energy sector for far too long. The societal cost and collateral damage of relying on this legacy infrastructure has left more than 1.2 billion people worldwide without hope and in the dark.

Using Impact PPA’s platform & smart contracts, small business owners, farmers, families, and the average person can create a SmartPPA, or Power Purchase Agreement, and obtain the necessary capital for energy fulfillment. Fundamentally, ImpactPPA connects the applicant with the necessary funding for the project. That funding comes from the purchase of MPQ Tokens by socially-conscious individuals who wish to make a difference in the world. The appropriate technology solution for each project is outsourced to a provider. Each renewable energy project can be tracked from beginning to end because of the transparency and immutability of blockchain. There are 2 mechanisms used for funding/payment:

1. The MPQ Token purchased for funding & voting rights over specific projects

2. The GEN Credit for the pay-as-you-go generated power

GEN Credit Mobile Application

Interview with CEO, Dan Bates

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Bates, the CEO of Impact PPA and Windstream, a company that manufactures renewable energy technologies such as SolarMills.

Cynthia: Can you tell me a little about Windstream Technologies and why you started Impact PPA?

Dan: WindStream is the manufacturer of a hybrid, wind and solar renewable energy platform, it is very scalable and can be used for on or off grid applications. There is a huge disconnect between project financing and installation due to legacy financial institutions: Work Bank, IMF, USAID. It is too lengthy and too expensive a process. ImpactPPA was set up to alleviate that problem.

Cynthia: Does Windstream manufacture the products you are currently using in your installations?

Dan: Yes, but ImpactPPA can use any renewable technology that is best suited for the project.

Cynthia: Why did you decide to use the 2 token model?

Dan: The value token, the MPQ, can appreciate in value with the success of the company. The GEN credit must remain fixed in price to the agreed upon price of a kWh of energy.

Cynthia: How are your projects going in Haiti — restoring the 42 cities power? ( its astounding they went 2 years without power!)

Dan: The first city, Les Irois, is operational. The follow-on 42 cities are being designed and engineered. We expect the installations to begin in the coming months.

Cynthia: Do you see any regulatory roadblocks in energy blockchain expansion?

Dan: We don’t know what we don’t know. This is a new landscape and as such, ImpactPPA will need to remain flexible to the coming regulatory environment.

3-turbine hybrid solar and wind unit installed by a villager in Nigeria to keep his chickens alive

electrification project in India

Potential Impact of Impact PPA?

The importance of this project cannot be measured in any mundane social media report simply because there is no metric for quantifying the importance of illuminating the lives of the less fortunate. This is a basic human right all of us take for granted every day in our privileged lives and a part of me feels ashamed for doing so. Yet a greater part of me is very hopeful because of this project.

I truly and firmly believe that the effects of consistent energy access can radically & positively transform lives. Arguably no great economic or human advancement has ever taken place without robust energy provision.

I personally am very envious of this project as it’s not every day that you come across a concept so impactful it will so radically change the world. If you’ve ever lost power in the middle of the night, try living without it 24/7 much less trying to rear children without it.

I have at times been a single parent struggling to make ends meet, but this is a struggle no parent should have to fight alone, ever. Clean, reliable electricity can improve quality of life by enabling vaccinations, perishable refrigeration, enhanced public safety, and enable communication and decentralized mobility access.

Most importantly, energy provision will educate young children by giving them something as simple as Wikipedia access so that they may leave their homes and communities just as we strive to leave our own: a little better than we found it.

Cynthia Wood, CBE

President & Co-Founder Bee App Inc.

Enterprise Blockchain Analyst & Researcher

Twitter: @womenofcrypto

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/cynthiawoodCBE

cynthia @beeappbuzz.com