scholarly journals Blockchain and Demand Response: Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Energy Transactions Privacy

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 5678
Author(s):  
Claudia Daniela Pop ◽  
Marcel Antal ◽  
Tudor Cioara ◽  
Ionut Anghel ◽  
Ioan Salomie
Keyword(s):  
Demand Response ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Privacy Preserving ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Zero Knowledge ◽  
Energy Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Desirable Feature ◽  
Energy Domain ◽  
Demand Response Programs

Nowadays, the adoption of demand response programs is still lagging due to the prosumers’ lack of awareness, fear of losing control and privacy of energy data, etc. Programs decentralization, by adopting promising technologies such as blockchain, may bring significant advantages in terms of transparency, openness, improved control, and increased active participation of prosumers. Nevertheless, even though in general the transparency of the public blockchain is a desirable feature in the energy domain, the prosumer energy data is sensitive and rather private, thus, a privacy-preserving solution is required. In this paper, we present a decentralized implementation of demand response programs on top of the public blockchain which deals with the privacy of the prosumer’s energy data using zero-knowledge proofs and validates on the blockchain the prosumer’s activity inside the program using smart contracts. Prosumer energy data is kept private, while on the blockchain it is stored a zero-knowledge proof that is generated by the prosumer itself allowing the implementation of functions to validate potential deviations from the request and settle prosumer’s activity. The solution evaluation results are promising in terms of ensuring the privacy of prosumer energy data stored in the public blockchain and detecting potential data inconsistencies.

scholarly journals Shedding Light on the Factors That Influence Residential Demand Response in Japan

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2795
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Iliopoulos ◽  
Motoharu Onuki ◽  
Miguel Esteban
Keyword(s):  
Demand Response ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Direct Load Control ◽  
Integration Of Renewables ◽  
Residential Demand ◽  
Demand Response Programs ◽  
Energy Grid

Residential demand response empowers the role of electricity consumers by allowing them to change their patterns of consumption, which can help balance the energy grid. Although such type of management is envisaged to play an increasingly important role in the integration of renewables into the grid, the factors that influence household engagement in these initiatives have not been fully explored in Japan. This study examines the influence of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and socio-demographic characteristics of households in Yokohama on their willingness to participate in demand response programs. Time of use, real time pricing, critical peak pricing, and direct load control were considered as potential candidates for adoption. In addition, the authors explored the willingness of households to receive non-electricity related information in their in-home displays and participate in a philanthropy-based peer-to-peer energy platform. Primary data were collected though a questionnaire survey and supplemented by key informant interviews. The findings indicate that household income, ownership of electric vehicles, socio-environmental awareness, perceived sense of comfort, control, and complexity, as well as philanthropic inclinations, all constitute drivers that influence demand flexibility. Finally, policy recommendations that could potentially help introduce residential demand response programs to a wider section of the public are also proposed.

Modeling of unforced demand response programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Jalili ◽  
Pierluigi Siano
Keyword(s):  
Demand Response ◽  
Load Shifting ◽  
Response Models ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Equipment Failures ◽  
Demand Response Programs ◽  
Simultaneous Implementation ◽  
Long Term Studies

Abstract Demand response programs are useful options in reducing electricity price, congestion relief, load shifting, peak clipping, valley filling and resource adequacy from the system operator’s viewpoint. For this purpose, many models of these programs have been developed. However, the availability of these resources has not been properly modeled in demand response models making them not practical for long-term studies such as in the resource adequacy problem where considering the providers’ responding uncertainties is necessary for long-term studies. In this paper, a model considering providers’ unavailability for unforced demand response programs has been developed. Temperature changes, equipment failures, simultaneous implementation of demand side management resources, popular TV programs and family visits are the main reasons that may affect the availability of the demand response providers to fulfill their commitments. The effectiveness of the proposed model has been demonstrated by numerical simulation.

scholarly journals Third Party Certification of Agri-Food Supply Chain Using Smart Contracts and Blockchain Tokens

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5307
Author(s):  
Ricardo Borges dos Santos ◽  
Nunzio Marco Torrisi ◽  
Rodrigo Palucci Pantoni
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Consumer Behaviour ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
The Public ◽  
Blockchain Technology

Every consumer’s buying decision at the supermarket influences food brands to make first party claims of sustainability and socially responsible farming methods on their agro-product labels. Fine wines are often subject to counterfeit along the supply chain to the consumer. This paper presents a method for efficient unrestricted publicity to third party certification (TPC) of plant agricultural products, starting at harvest, using smart contracts and blockchain tokens. The method is capable of providing economic incentives to the actors along the supply chain. A proof-of-concept using a modified Ethereum IGR token set of smart contracts using the ERC-1155 standard NFTs was deployed on the Rinkeby test net and evaluated. The main findings include (a) allowing immediate access to TPC by the public for any desired authority by using token smart contracts. (b) Food safety can be enhanced through TPC visible to consumers through mobile application and blockchain technology, thus reducing counterfeiting and green washing. (c) The framework is structured and maintained because participants obtain economical incentives thus leveraging it´s practical usage. In summary, this implementation of TPC broadcasting through tokens can improve transparency and sustainable conscientious consumer behaviour, thus enabling a more trustworthy supply chain transparency.

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