Q&A: This project says it runs solely on sustainable energy — how?

The energy use and sustainability of blockchain technology is a burning topic. But some projects are seeking to ensure their activities are eco-friendly — all while giving environmentally conscious consumers an option to go green.

One of them is GRNGrid. Here, founder and CMO John Errol de Vroede tells us more about the platform's sustainability credentials, how this is achieved, and why its approach to Proof-of-Stake avoids common pitfalls surrounding centralization.

1. Hello! Can you simply explain what your project does?

GRNGrid is an environmentally friendly, scalable and stable Layer 1 blockchain, with novel DeFi features.

These features give everyone permissionless access to cheap, user-friendly DeFi protocols such as yield farming, staking, DEX and a payment and escrow service.

We're also introducing Proof-of-Stake V2, otherwise known as PoS2 for short. This new consensus method has been shown to deliver increased security, enhanced decentralization and better financial sustainability.

The GRN token is the native token of GRNGrid. GRN will govern the blockchain by staking to validate, and will be burned as transaction fees. You can also stake it into our own inbuilt DEX called Exnode.

2. Tell us a bit more about what makes your blockchain project sustainable.

GRNGrid is backed by validators running on sustainable energy and operating on durable hardware. The network itself operates very power efficient.

Users can opt to have their transactions completed on nodes running exclusively, and certifiably, on green energy.

The GRN Association is based in Zug, Switzerland — and protects our sustainable vision, as well as funding environmental projects. This organization also handles the ReCharge program, which enables validators to repurpose their hardware and cut back on electronic waste.

GRNGrid is financially sustainable. It’s the first blockchain with a consensus method specifically designed to tackle whales and achieve fairer distribution.

3. Where do you fall on the debate surrounding Bitcoin's energy use — does it use as much electricity as a small country… or is its impact negligible?

Some topics written on the subject misrepresent Bitcoin's energy use — but according to research, the impact is significant and can't be ignored.

For mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and a bright future, we believe sustainability and power efficiency need to be top priorities when designing a network.

4. What's your argument toward those who claim Proof-of-Stake networks are more centralized than Proof-of-Work rivals?

We agree — that’s why we developed PoS2.

Conventional Proof-of-Stake systems give those with the highest stakes the most sway and most power. Project founders and venture capital firms often have the highest stake and can basically control the system.

We have seen a recent example where an unnamed high-staking individual or entity basically agreed to take control of someone's wallet. This is against everything decentralization stands for.

By introducing PoS2, we cut back the power of the whales and increase rewards for validators with a lesser stake.

5. Do you think your sustainability credentials could encourage eco-friendly consumers to embrace blockchain technology?

We sure hope so! Sadly, the highly debated topic results in more hesitation to adopt crypto and increasing divergence between sides.

Our ultimate goal would be to unite. Providing a system that improves every key aspect for better adoption of crypto technologies. We are especially focused on user friendliness in DeFi. Creating an intuitive and safe-to-use application for all features on GRNGrid will encourage many people to give DeFi a try.

This way it's not just sustainable but crafted for the masses — secure, scalable and innovative.

6. You say your project runs solely on renewable energy — how do you achieve this?

Our renewable energy partners, who specialize in mining and hosting facilities, have shown keen interest in running Grid’s nodes as validators.

With their help we can kickstart the availability, speed and sustainability of Grid — even allowing us to say that Grid will be the first actual green blockchain from launch.

Nevertheless, GRNGrid’s great features encourage more validators to participate. So the development team is tasked with creating a decentralized check on energy sources.

7. Can you tell us about your ReCharge effort for recycling hardware?

We clean up after ourselves, that is our motto. With ReCharge, any validator on GRNGrid can apply for a recycling program of their hardware sponsored by the GRN Association. The hardware will be repurposed for data center applications for the partners of GRN-Energy.

8. What are the main use cases being envisaged for GRN?

Our main objective is creating a sustainable and user friendly alternative to all DeFi protocols.

This is why GRNGrid is created to be used daily, handle enormous volumes, and perform under pressure.

And under any circumstance, GRNGrid will give users access to cheap and quick swaps with Exnode, secure payment and escrow with GRN Pay, and an encrypted messaging system with EnScrypt.

9. You recently attended the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami — can you tell us what this was like?

Exciting! GRN-Energy, one of our partners, was a sponsor at Bitcoin 2022. They were able to connect with some great projects.

We have also seen that the sentiment for Bitcoin mining has switched to sustainability. There was enormous demand for the service of GRN-Energy, which gave great confidence in GRNGrid.