Blockchain in Smart Grids: Steering Sustainable Development Goals Forward

In the contemporary era, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as the backbone of global efforts to ensure a future that harmonizes environmental conservation, social equity, and economic growth. One of the critical challenges facing these objectives is the management and distribution of energy resources (DER) in a manner that is efficient, transparent, and resilient. Enter the blockchain technology—a decentralized ledger system renowned for its transparent, tamper-proof, and peer-to-peer attributes. Integrating blockchain with smart grids presents a transformative solution to foster sustainable energy consumption and distribution. Blockchain-backed smart grids enable real-time tracking of energy generation and usage, ensuring optimal load balancing and reducing wastage. Moreover, through tokenization, consumers can be incentivized to engage in energy-saving practices or even trade surplus energy, promoting a decentralized and democratized energy marketplace. From an SDG perspective, this synergy not only accelerates the transition to renewable energy sources (Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy) but also fosters innovation in infrastructure (Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and combats climate change impacts (Goal 13: Climate Action). In essence, combining blockchain and smart grid-related technologies underpins the very ethos of the SDGs, amplifying efforts to create a sustainable and equitable world for all. This talk will provide an exposition of the role of Blockchains in smart grids for secure management of DER.