Comment from Erin Boyd, Proseeder thought leader

That their industry is being disrupted is no secret to the global energy companies. Once seen as a threat, this disruption, typically characterised by the 3Ds – digitisation, decentralisation and decarbonisation – is now seen as opportunity, and it is difficult to identify an energy company that is not embracing it. Of the top 20 global energy companies, all mention at least one of the 3Ds of disruption if not all three, as a major strategic goal. On the heels of these 3Ds is the dawning of a fourth industrial revolution, driven by blockchain. Often compared to the birth of the internet, blockchain is on the cusp of creating immense change in how the world operates, transacts and communicates. Indeed, the energy industry may be one of the greatest beneficiaries, for blockchain offers many possible ways to streamline the business, improve operations by harnessing digitisation, give consumers more choice, enable the decentralisation of the energy consumed and accelerate decarbonisation. Given these dynamic synergies, but also due to its nascency and the corresponding challenges, blockchain is an ideal investment for any corporate venture capital fund. This is true no matter the corporate objective for investing in a startup, including the two most prevalent of exploitation of current business models and exploration of new ones. Above: Downtime for equipment can be reduced with blockchain For exploitation, which focuses on increasing operational efficiencies, blockchain offers a host of potential gains. Millions of interactions and operations must be tracked within a complex ecosystem of contractors, suppliers, shippers, legal and regulatory authorities along with the associated land rights, invoices, maintenance, real-time operations, precise location of assets, contracts and so on. With blockchain, all of this can be recorded and tracked on an immutable distributed ledger, creating a transparent, consolidated and secure record. From a paper management perspective, this reduces errors, fraud, administrative burdens and execution times while simultaneously increasing the ease of auditing, legal verification, and managing transactions. From a production management perspective, this minimises downtime of equipment, enables increased production, reduces capital investment and allows for better planning and execution. All of this translates into a lower break-even price of a barrel of oil or kilowatt-hour. For those energy companies looking to expand into new markets, or even completely changing their entire business model, blockchain correspondingly offers great investment opportunities. One prevalent trend among energy companies is expansion into large-scale electricity generation and supply through endeavours such as wind farms and clean gas. The…

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