Blockchain and energy: A bibliometric analysis and review

Lennart Ante, F. Steinmetz and I. Fiedler

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, vol. 137, issue C

Abstract: Blockchain technology provides an immutable ledger for secure value transactions in a network. This base layer technology has the potential to boost the efficiency of various processes in the energy sector. In this article, the intersection of blockchain and energy is analyzed based on the underlying references of 166 publications via co-citation analysis. Using exploratory factor analysis, six distinct research streams are identified: I. energy market innovation and transformation (through blockchain technology), II. blockchain for data sharing and security, III. energy management in smart grids and scalable systems, IV. information transmission across networks and its applications, V. peer-to-peer energy microgrids, and VI. potential of blockchain technology. For each of these streams, the highest-impact articles are reviewed. In addition, social network analysis allows to reveal the relationships and dependencies between the streams. The results indicate a high degree of homogeneity in this field of research, as the six streams explain more than 71% of variance. The degree to which the streams are centered on blockchain technology varies. While the two most established discourses and the least established one focus at least in part on blockchain, the other three streams prioritize energy issues. It is postulated that specific research fields on this topic are only beginning to emerge, implications are discussed and areas for future research are derived.

Keywords: Distributed ledger; Energy markets; Smart grids; Electricity; Energy trading; Microgrids; Data privacy; Social network analysis; Bitcoin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120308819
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:137:y:2021:i:c:s1364032120308819

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110597

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().