Blockchain technology is ready to disrupt nearly every industry and business model, and the energy sector is no exception. Energy businesses across the world have already started exploring the use of blockchain technology in large-scale energy trading systems, peer-to-peer energy trading, project financing, supply chain tracking, and asset management among other applications. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) recently started revolutionizing the energy landscape, and now blockchain technology is providing an additional opportunity to make the energy system more intelligent, efficient, transparent, and secure in the longer term. The idea of this paper is to examine more closely the use of blockchain technology for its possible application in the energy efficiency industry and to determine how it could make energy efficiency markets more secure and transparent in the longer term. This paper examines in detail the key benefits and implications of using blockchain in the energy efficiency sector through the presentation and discussion of two case studies as possible blockchain applications—(i) the UK Energy Company Obligation scheme and (ii) the Italian White Certificate Scheme. We have presented how the key issues around trading energy efficiency savings—correctly estimating the savings, data transparency among stakeholders, and inefficient administrative processes—can be solved through the application of a blockchain-based smart contract system. Finally, this paper presents an implementation of a smart contract for trading of energy-saving certificates achieved via execution of smart contract transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

The proliferation of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology should be a high-priority agenda item in the discourse on lighting energy efficiency and power quality. Considering the future penetration of LED lighting technologies, it is necessary to ensure that LED lamps are performing at the most efficient level without compromising other interrelated issues.

Among the myriad challenges facing humanity, air pollution and climate change emerge as the most formidable existential threats to our future. Ironically, both these are direct fallouts of human activities such as indiscriminate consumption of consumer products/services and burning of fossil fuels. Purchase of consumer goods in 2024 is projected to be in excess of $22.6 trillion worldwide. How these consumers buy, use or dispose consumer goods will profoundly impact all life on the planet. Therefore, it is an imperative to embed sustainability in every Rupee of consumer spending. Hence a robust digital solution, CarbonShunya, has been developed with the purpose to empower a billion consumers to make sustainable purchase and lifestyle choices. CarbonShunya is India’s 1st solution that can measure and mitigate the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) footprint of consumer transactions in real-time. It provides consumers with actionable insights at the point-of-purchase and post-purchase to shape a shift in consumer beliefs, attitudes and behavior. This paper presents the methodology, assumptions and processes which have been adopted to develop the CarbonShunya life-cycle assessment framework and solution in Indian context. It also presents a case study, using the CarbonShunya framework, to measure and mitigate GHG impacts of monthly consumer expenditure on several categories of products/services across various states of India, based on a primary survey of over 174 000 households. The results from the case-study provide actionable insights and conclusions for policymakers and practitioners. CarbonShunya has cross-cutting applications across sectors so as to enable consuming economies to embrace conserving behaviors.