Energy transfer on the blockchain conceptualized
Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a physics-based cryptocurrency that connects electricity and blockchain technologies.
The new blockchain concept, called the electricity-supported stablecoin (E-Stablecoin), may in the future, the researchers believe, allow the transmission of electricity between users who are spread around the world through communication of information and without the need for interconnection wires or an online transmission system.
The basis for the concept, which is based on recent advances in thermodynamics and digitization, is twofold. On one side is the blockchain-based ‘stablecoin’, which is a cryptocurrency with a stable price in relation to an external currency or asset.
On the other hand, the thought experiment of the father of modern physics, James Clerk Maxwell from 1867, is called ‘Maxwell’s demon’, a hypothetical being or entity capable of detecting and responding to the movements of individual molecules.
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The researchers define the E-Stablecoin token price as closely linked to the price of 1 kWh of electricity. Therefore, an E-Stablecoin token requires the supply of 1kWh of electricity (with taxes) to mint or can be redeemed to withdraw 1kWh of electricity (with taxes).
Without going into the theoretical details of the concept, which is outlined in the journal Cryptoeconomic Systems, it essentially involves the transfer of energy in the form of information or specifically “waste data” from one party to another for deletion.
This waste data consists of information recorded as a by-product of the demon’s action using reversible computing and a Szilard engine, which converts the information into work or energy.
An example of a protocol has Alice connecting a Szilard motor to a large thermal mass at a single temperature, e.g. the earth. Using reversible data processing, she extracts heat from the thermal mass and converts it into electricity, and in the process also produces “waste data” which must be stored locally.
When her local storage station is full of “waste data”, she has to remove it to continue to extract energy, which she can do by outsourcing Bob’s process to another location. Bob then uses free energy on the spot to delete Alice ‘waste data’, locally he puts into the system the same amount of electricity that is extracted by Alice at her place and in fact a transfer of free energy from Bob to Alice.
“The work solves critical problems with the stability of digital assets and is the first cryptocurrency token design that is both secured by a physical asset and completely decentralized because it is secured by the laws of statistical mechanics,” according to a statement from LLNL.
Referring to the “explosive growth” of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the statement adds that this new cryptocurrency concept is a step towards implementing responsible digital assets that move beyond just the digital world and are instead linked to the physical world in a more tangible way. ways.
In their conclusions, the researchers comment that technical and technological challenges currently hinder the implementation of an E-Stablecoin network.
Current challenges include the development of efficient Szilard engines, reversible computers and improved data storage capacity. Nevertheless, each of these challenges is also an area of active research for independent applications.
Potential future uses for E-Stablecoin include the distribution of electricity to remote locations not connected to an electrical network or the transfer of periodic renewable energy to locations where it is necessary to stabilize the network.
