Swytch Pilots Clean Energy Rewards in Germany, Launches ICO

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US blockchain-clean energy incentive, Swytch on Tuesday announced its initial coin offering (ICO) alongside a partnership with German energy trading group Energy2market (e2m) to pilot a token allocation project in the country that rewards carbon emission reduction.

The Swytch blockchain platform tracks and verifies the impact of sustainability efforts and actions on the worldwide level of C02 emissions, using smart meters to reward the companies and people that reduce them the most.

As part of the German pilot, Swytch said it will test first versions of the data flow, blockchain, dashboard, estimators, token allocation models and other key parts of the platform. The program aims to cover some 3.5Gw of solar, wind, hydro and biogas energy capacity in Germany, which is enough to power over 500,000 homes.

At the core of the Swytch platform is an open-source “Oracle” using artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine how much carbon is being displaced and how many Swytch tokens to award. Producers of renewable energy create Swytch tokens by generating solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy. According to Energy2Market, this approach to tokenized incentives is particularly attractive to the larger energy producers and traders it serves.

“We firmly believe that blockchain technology can be used to unlock long-term value for Europe’s renewable energy assets,” said Andreas Keil, CEO of Energy2market, in a statement. “Today, renewable energy represents 32 percent of the total energy market in Germany, but we have a goal of reaching 70 percent by 2050. Government-based incentive programs can only do so much, and a more dynamic option is needed. Additionally, some countries, like Germany, will begin phasing out their incentive programs in the next few years. We need to prepare for the future and identify new subsidy instruments and trading mechanism.”

“Just as blockchain is applicable to supply chain management and verification of physical assets, it is also beneficial for recording and tracking environmental attributions,” said Evan Caron, co-founder and managing director of Swytch. “When compared to existing programs this will drastically reduce fraud and administrative costs as well as open up incentive mechanisms to residential properties, which are the key to accelerated adoption of renewables. This positions Swytch as a central player in the global grassroots movement to reduce carbon emissions.”

The Swytch public token sale, which is limited to non-US investors, launched on Tuesday and will run until July 11, 2018.