Proof Of Work and Climate Change

When Blockchain an

d Bitcoin were launched, they brought with them concepts such as cryptocurrency mining, which is basically the use of computing power to confirm digital transactions. This process, therefore, uses hardware processors called miners, which compete in a pool of many miners to process transactions. The mining process using a consensus algorithm called Proof of (Work POW) to show the work done.

Bitcoin mining surged in popularity as one of the ways of making money through the budding cryptocurrency market. Mining Bitcoin is lucrative, but it requires a lot of computing power, which is quite power-hungry. This has, in turn, led to debates on Bitcoin not being environmentally friendly.

A report published in August 2018 by the U.S Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources claims that Bitcoin mining efforts consume roughly 1 percent of the total global electricity consumption. Although that seems like a small figure, it is actually a massive figure, and it also means that the Bitcoin-mining process consumes a lot of electricity.

Unintended Consequences from POW

Climate change is currently one of the major topics of discussions today as leaders from different parts of the world push for more environmentally friendly activities. These include less wastage and the use of greener fuels or greener energy. However, that is hard to achieve when there is a high demand for power.

The high electricity consumption forces electricity companies to set up plants that generate energy using renewable fuels, and this leads to more carbon emissions in the atmosphere. This means that Bitcoin's POW system's high energy requirement encourages the use of renewable energies, thus having an impact on climate change caused by more carbon emissions.

Missoula County officials in Montana expressed such concerns after a major Bitcoin miner set up their mining operation in an old abandoned mine and even secured renewable electricity from a nearby dam. This electricity would be used to power their electricity-intensive mining machines and their elaborate cooling systems. The county officials expressed concerns because the electricity drawn by the mining facility meant that the county would have to rely on coal to supplement their power needs in case there was a shortage.

What about Renewable Energy?

Production facilities whose energy consumption capacity is similar to that of cryptocurrency mining facilities usually have a product that they manufacture. The production process usually requires human input, and then the product is sold to different markets, thus generating revenue. The supply chain of that product creates value and allows revenue circulation in the economy.

Mining facilities usually run with very little human input, which means that there are usually no jobs created. Also, no product is created during the process, and therefore, crypto mining does not contribute to economic growth or economic empowerment. Instead, it contributes to more money getting out of the economy, especially in situations where major miners set up shop in foreign countries to take advantage of lower power rates.

Even though the focus on renewable energy has increased drastically, crypto mining, it still contradicts the push for lower power consumption. The countries of many governments would likely dismiss any investments that do not contribute much in terms of economic input, especially those that consume a lot of energy.

Reducing Crypto's Impact to Climate Change

Human activities are currently a major contributor to climate change. Vehicle emissions, plant emissions, burning of non-renewable materials, and other similar activities result in the release of high carbon dioxide levels, thus contributing to global warming and thus gradually affecting the global climate.

If humans continue with their current consumption and power-hungry activities, then we will risk causing irreversible damage to the global climate. Some of the effects of climate change are already visible such as extreme droughts in some parts of the world and typhoons in other areas. Activities such as energy-intensive crypto mining should be heavily discouraged, especially in cases where renewable energy is involved.

Companies or individuals running major cryptocurrency mining operations should consider setting up their own renewable energy plants to generate power for their operations. This would reduce the dependence on fossil fuel-based electricity generating facilities, thus lowering the carbon footprint and subsequently reducing our impact on climate change.

XRP’s consensus and its unique approach

Rather than having to deal with the high costs of setting up expensive renewable power facilities, the developers behind the cryptocurrency systems can improve on the technology to make it more efficient. This is the strategy that the XRP ledger uses rather than a POW or Proof of Stake system to incentivize transaction processing, and the system is constantly evolving.

The consensus algorithm is one of XRP’s biggest advantage over other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is fast, efficient, and it makes sure that the mining process does not require a lot of energy or energy. The XRP ledger consensus algorithm allows the efficiency of agreements between participants who have “trusted validators” and the validators on the platform.

To put the efficiency levels into perspective, Bitcoin's network used more electricity a day for a single Bitcoin transaction than the amount of electricity used by the average U.S home daily in 2018. Additionally, it took hours to confirm a single transaction. Meanwhile, XRP’s network is so efficient that it takes around 4 to 5 seconds to confirm a transaction, and the amount of electricity consumed in the process is negligible. This makes it a more appealing option for transactions as a digital currency, and it also poses a huge challenge to the POW system.

The XRP ledger also features the entire current state of balances, thus allowing network and server synchronization in a matter of minutes rather than hours. This makes it a superior system compared to that of Blockchain, although the latter has also gone through some improvements designed to achieve more efficiency. Fortunately, these are digital systems that can be improved over time to deliver desired results.

So Why Isn't Proof of Work Good if it Increases Renewable Energy Adoption?.....

ABSTRACT

Undercut traditional investment firms through the creation of an investment platform where an individual can invest in fractions of a variety of different asset classes based on a desired set of financial criteria and asset mix. These investments will run seamlessly through smart contracts that will track and properly allocate the micro investments and subsequent revenue streams. An individual can opt for either static allocation whereby contracts are held until manually reallocated by the user or, for a premium, an individual can opt for dynamic reallocation where assets will reallocate an investment mix based on real time key performance indicators. Value will be further provided by usurping the traditional centralized retirement investment model and reallocating those dollars in a decentralized manner.

THE PROBLEM

401k and retirement accounts are the new norm in today’s society driven by a centralized capitalistic market. Most individuals engage in their retirement with a set it and forget it mentality without taking into consideration the true risk and costs they may be taking. Investing should be undertaken on the underlying merit of any opportunity to maximize yields but many retirement accounts don’t act in the fiduciary best interest of the individual. Typically these firms stack high and often hidden fees to its users based on their firm funneling investor dollars into a limited pool of resources that further enrich the parent company.

THE SOLUTION

Through the fractionalization allowed by XRP and other similarly structured digital assets an individual investor can achieve maximum diversification by fractionalizing their level of investment in a given asset class. Through constant feedback analytics an asset class can use the law of averages to blend in otherwise toxic or high risk assets to a level where they will have negligible impact on stated returns. Furthermore, smart contract and real time measurement analytics tied to those contracts enables investment automation and increases the surety of quantifiable returns.

COIL SUBSCRIBERS FIND OUT HOW……….

ABSTRACT

Student debt is quickly becoming one of the largest categories of debt in the USA. The amount of debt owed by students has doubled in just eight years and the amount of debt taken out by students has risen year over year for the past 18 years. The federal government has taken over a lion's share of this debt, but unfortunately interest rates remain high and debt loading continues to increase. I graduated with my undergraduate degrees with no debt and since entering grad school to attain my Master's and Doctorate Degrees I have accumulated approximately $120,000 worth of debt. To make matters worse this debt accrues interest at a 6% rate, which is higher than my car or house loan rate. I write this because there is absolutely NO reason in America an individual should be able to buy a car or a house at a cheaper debt rate that they can get an education.

THE PROBLEM

Student debt is becoming more and more of a problem in America. With easy access to capital for students and deferment options, those that desire to pursue an education can do so with little worry. This has created a culture of greed that has made it's way from government all the way to the very academic institutions themselves. Every institution these days seems to operate under aggressively capitalistic principles, modifying tuition rates to match the amount of debt each student can bare without raising too many red flags. To further complicate matters, those in the federal government that should seek to further the education of their society now seek to profit from it, releasing the flood gates of funding, and making this debt almost impossible to forgive. The pictures below should describe the issue in a nutshell

THE SOLUTION

Ditch the federal government and the fat cat for profit institutions for a dynamic debt pricing structure that rewards good grades, good institutions, and hard work by an individual and employer. This can be achieved by tokenizing student debt to provide greater accessibility and affordability to students . Additionally, if you fractionalize this debt and reissue to individuals through microinvestments an organization can leverage the diversification of this debt and reduce the risk to debt holders using the law of averages.

COIL SUBSCRIBERS FIND OUT HOW……….

ABSTRACT

Undercut traditional academic database business models shifting capital from centralized databases and trade journals to the scholars generating the content. The database will drip micropayments direct to content creators based upon the time spent reviewing academic material, similar to the Coil and Cinnamon platform. What set's this model apart from previously existing will be how it organizes and categorizes data for ease of use by the scholar looking for scholarly citations.

For reference my doctoral dissertation currently uses 232 academic sources to support my study. As part of my tuition I pay to receive access to scholarly work databases. I typically use a few thoughts from each study to support my claims and spend hours reading through hundred pages worth pdf's to find these citations.

THE PROBLEM

The scholarly databases in use today are centralized and have very poor user interfaces. Typically, you are only able to search for keywords pulled from the abstract and/or title. Furthermore, the typically consumer of these databases are students and rarely do they use more than a few ideas/concepts to support their scholarly works. I receive access to scholarly databases through my university, which is passing on the cost directly to me through my tuition cost. If a user doesn't have direct access through their institution they are charged an insane amount to gain access to these articles. The student, which consumes as well as creates these works, is further taken advantage of by not receiving any monetary value other than recognition for their work.

For reference this was an article I tried to procure from Google Scholar without being logged into my university account. For just $30.00 I can get access for this article for 1 day. Who profits from this? Centralized institutions taking advantage of the student for gain.

THE SOLUTION

Create a user driven scholarly database where scholars can upload fully queryable academic articles for use by others. When a user consumes these works they will pay via micropayments to the original content creators. Since these scholars are the intellectual property holders of these works they should be fairly compensated.

COIL SUBSCRIBERS FIND OUT HOW……….

Section 1: Foundation of the Study

How a firm uses energy impacts the company’s profitability. Short-term and long-term upward price pressure on energy can adversely affect an organization’s financial health (Sadorsky, 2010). Commercial sector energy prices are expected to rise due to high electricity demand (Pitt, Michaud, & Duggan, 2018). Energy usage, if not properly managed can adversely impact business profitability and overall sustainability. Firms struggle to implement effective long-term strategic energy plans to account for this uncertainty (Armaroli & Balzani, 2007). Without implementing strategic plans to manage energy use, firms are exposed to upwards price pressure in the energy sector, which can adversely impact their profitability (Sadorsky, 2010). Firms that understand how to manage energy costs through strategic implementation can mitigate the profitability risk associated with rising energy costs.

Background of the Problem

Energy prices are projected to increase in the commercial sector (Energy Information Association, 2016). Energy prices can experience upwards price pressure over time based on a multitude of factors stemming from the variability in energy production and consumption (Alberini & Towe, 2015). There are multiple factors that can influence energy prices including fuel costs, accessibility of fuel and power plants, environmental costs, and price regulations (Sanquist, Orr, Shui, & Bittner, 2012).

Organizations need to be aware of the variables impacting prices they pay for energy (Hu, Kim, Wang, & Byrne, 2015). Organizations can effectively operate in a rising cost environment by educating themselves on the factors influencing energy prices and taking strategic action to manage these costs effectively (Eccleston, March, & Cohen, 2011). Organizations that can effectively manage energy costs can also gain a competitive advantage (Weaver, 2004).

Firms that can successfully implement energy saving strategies can benefit from a sustainable competitive advantage in the market, which is particularly important in the resort industry (Yatich, 2018). Unfortunately, implementation of strategies to manage energy costs within organizations suffers from a very high failure rate (Cândido & Santos, 2015). Resorts that can navigate rising energy prices by implementing strategies to manage energy costs effectively will have a strategic advantage over their competitors (Weaver, 2004). Furthermore, these strategies can produce substantial direct and indirect benefits to the longevity and profitability of an organization (Smerecnik & Andersen, 2011).

Problem Statement

Hawaii’s commercial consumers pay the highest rate for electricity in the United States (Chen, 2019; Energy Information Administration, 2016). The projected annual rate increase is 3-3.5% through 2021 (Energy Information Administration, 2016). The general business problem is Hawaiian resort leaders struggle to effectively manage these rising energy prices now and into the future, resulting in decreased profits. The specific business problem is some business leaders in the Hawaiian resort industry lack strategies to effectively manage energy costs.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative multiple site case study is to explore the strategies used by business leaders in the Hawaiian resort industry to effectively manage energy costs. This study will include interviewing six to eight professionals with direct accountability for energy management across three resorts successful at managing energy costs within Hawaii. Business leaders in the Hawaiian resort industry can benefit from the results of this study by identifying new implementation strategies to effectively manage energy costs. The implementation of these strategies may shield an organization from financial losses due to rising energy costs and improve the overall environment by reducing harmful pollutants that are responsible for climate change.

Nature of the Study

For this study, I considered three specific research methods: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. The research method chosen for this study is qualitative. The purpose of this study is to explore successful strategies implemented by managers to manage their energy costs. Qualitative researchers explore topics that describe, understand, and explain a social phenomenon (Lee & Krauss, 2015). Qualitative research differs from quantitative research in the fact that it uses subjective narratives, rather than numbers and statistical analysis as a means of data collection and analysis (Anyan, 2013). Quantitative and mixed method researchers examine research questions that require the collection and analysis of numeric data (Venkatesh, Brown, & Bala, 2013). Because I am not collecting or analyzing numeric data, I chose not to pursue a quantitative or mixed method research study. The objective of this research study is to gain insight on strategies needed to effectively manage energy costs in an environment where rising energy costs are decreasing an organization's profitability.

The application of a qualitative methodology is appropriate for this research. Of the available research designs, I considered case study, phenomenological, and ethnographic. I chose the multiple case study design for my qualitative study. I rejected ethnography and phenomenology because they did not fit my design criteria. Ethnographic researchers focus on exploring the culture of a group through interaction and interview (Marshall & Rossman, 2014). I rejected ethnography because I am not studying a culture. Phenomenological researchers explore participants’ lived experiences through study (Moustakas, 1994). I rejected phenomenology because I am not studying participants’ lived experiences. I chose a multiple case study design because it is my intention to explore the energy systems of resorts in Hawaii, which is a bounded system. The multiple case study design allows for the collection of data through observations, interviews, and artifacts of a bounded system (Yin, 2018). Because I am conducting an in-depth exploration of energy systems of resorts in Hawaii, which is a bounded system, the case study approach is an appropriate design for this research.

Research Question

The overarching research questions is: What strategies do business leaders in the Hawaiian resort industry use to effectively manage energy costs?

Interview Questions

In order to provide supplemental data to complement the study, I will use open-ended semistructured interviews. The interview questions are as follows:

1. What business practices do you use to successfully manage energy costs?

2. In which sector of your business are energy costs hardest to manage?

3. How do you encourage consumers to conserve energy?

4. What technologies do you use to effectively manage energy costs?

5. What passive techniques do you use to effectively manage energy costs?

6. What strategies have failed in managing energy costs?

7. What is the biggest limitation on managing energy costs?

8. What is your long-term strategic plan to effectively manage energy costs?

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework used to support this study is Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovation. Rogers (2003) studied the adoption and implementation of new ideas, products, and services within a specific social system. The main elements of diffusion of innovation are that these ideas are innovative and communicated through certain channels over time through members of a certain social system (Rogers, 2003). Rogers identified factors associated with the success a new innovative on a given system. Individual factors represent the perceptions individuals have on given innovation. Innovative factors represent the utility a given innovation provides to the user. Utility of a given innovation measures the relative advantage pf attributes such as ease of use, compatibility, problem solving capability, standards, and technological edge. Task factors represent the present market conditions imposed upon an innovation shortly after launch. Organizational factors represent the internal organizational influences on a given innovation.

Environmental factors represent external influences imposed by a given population’s cultural values, technological infrastructure, community norms, and ability to fund. Environmental factors, albeit hard to control, influence the success or failure of a given innovation (Akca & Ozer, 2014). Business leaders can use these factors as metrics to measure the success of saturation of their innovation within a given network.

The diffusion of innovation theory provides further support to how energy conservation strategies are adopted throughout an organizational network. Furthermore, this theory provides an educational tool for management on how to effectively apply successful initiatives. By studying implementation strategies over the adoption of innovative energy management strategies within a Hawaiian resort type setting, business leaders will be better suited to effectively implement and adopt strategies within their own organization, controlling and mitigating rising energy costs and protecting their profits.

Assumptions

An assumption is a belief necessary for a researcher to conduct research but cannot be proven (Simon & Goes, 2013). I assume in this study that the participants will not misrepresent themselves during questioning and that they will provide professional based strategic viewpoints on my research topic within their area of expertise. Furthermore, I assume that energy prices in my area of study will continue to increase and that businesses lack strategies to effectively manage these rising energy costs.

Limitations

A limitation is a factor that one cannot control that could impact the outcome of a study (Simon & Goes, 2013). I cannot control the applicability or practicality of the thoughts, ideas, or strategies presented by my participants as they are the authority on effectively managing energy use. I also cannot control the future evolution of technology as technology relates to energy production or consumption or the impact technology may have on the prices paid for energy.

Delimitations

A delimitation is a factor that arises which one can control based on the choices the make (Simon & Goes, 2013). I have chosen a representative population size that should be representative of the population I am targeting with my research. I also understand that the location I have chosen restricts the communication channels available to interact with my participants. These factors could negatively impact the time constraints of my study.

Significance of the Study

Business leaders in the Hawaiian resort industry and society can benefit from this study. First, business leaders can identify new ways to effectively manage energy costs. Second, energy conservation strategies reduces society’s dependence on fossil fuels and improves the overall environment by reducing harmful pollutants responsible for climate change. With the implementation of proper energy management strategies, organizations can minimize wasted energy without compromising the quality and comfort of their environment (Gupta, Gaur, Vyas, & Pandey, 2015).

Contribution to Business Practice

Business leaders can benefit from this study by identifying effective strategies to manage energy usage to reduce cost. Furthermore, the results may also provide an objective framework manager can use when formulating their own energy management strategic plan. The intended audience is business leaders in the resort industry, but research findings pertain to individuals managing both commercial and domestic facilities that are interested in effectively managing their energy costs. I included the diffusion of innovation theory to support the practical implications and solutions surrounding sustainability. Research shows that organizations use the most effective strategies for managing energy costs that are not only financially sustainable but support an overall positive social and environmental impact. By actively pursuing successful strategies to control and mitigate energy costs, organizations can reduce their financial burdens while influencing a positive social and environmental change.

Implications for Social Change

Society may benefit from the results of this study because energy cost reduction strategies do more than shield an organization from future profit decay. Implementing energy conservation strategies reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and improves the overall environment by reducing harmful pollutants responsible for climate change (Shaikh et al., 2014). Not only does energy conservation help reduce our dependence on our depleting natural resources; energy conservation
sets a behavioral standard and precedence for others to follow which is positive for society.

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