From Dione Protocol to Rowan Energy: Can representative projects in the Refi track alleviate the environmental crisis?

Author: 0xmonomi

The financial sector is undergoing an unprecedented transformation known as the Refi track. This emerging concept combines the principles of regenerative economics with decentralized financial technology, aiming to redefine the financial industry.

The Refi track is inspired by the regenerative economics ideas of economist and philosopher John Fullerton, emphasizing maximizing community value, resource regeneration, environmental protection, and long-term financial prosperity. Although initially not related to cryptocurrency, this concept has sparked a new way of thinking about finance.

In the Refi track, we see the practical application of this idea. Through decentralized financial technology, it aims to achieve broader accessibility to financial services while eliminating the information asymmetry issues posed by intermediaries.

Although Refi (Regenerative Finance) does not yet have an authoritative definition, its development depends on community consensus, progressing in an open and self-evolving manner. In this article, we will delve into the projects within the Refi track, revealing how they are shaping the future of financial innovation, a field full of potential that will bring new possibilities to the financial world.

According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance last August, global renewable energy investment surged to $358 billion in the first half of 2023, a 22% increase from the beginning of last year, setting a six-month historical high. Meanwhile, the related capital markets have also seen rapid growth. Commitments to venture capital and private equity for renewable energy companies reached $10.4 billion, a 25% increase compared to the first half of 2022.

The Refi track is not limited to blockchain and carbon offsetting. It is emerging to address climate and sustainability challenges. Currently, many Layer-1 and Layer-2 blockchains have explicitly stated their intention to promote and support a low-carbon economy, providing incentive mechanisms for deploying ReFi projects. These include Cosmos, Internet Computer, Hedera, Topl, Polygon, Celo, Near, Algorand, and others. The primary use case of ReFi is climate, aiming to bring more transparency to the global carbon offset market, which is valued at $270 billion. For a long time, the carbon offset market has faced credibility issues from both supply and demand sides.

Regen Network, based on the Cosmos blockchain, focuses on helping businesses purchase, trade, and retire carbon credits on-chain. Meanwhile, Klima DAO has created a tokenized carbon offset solution that, as of the end of January 2023, has transparently removed over 17 million tons of CO2 from the global atmosphere.

The Refi track is a vibrant field that is continuously evolving to address the challenges of climate change and sustainability while pushing financial innovation to new heights. Below are introductions to several currently promising track projects.

Dione Protocol: An L1 based on the Avalanche public chain, centered on PoS and compatible with Ethereum EVM

Dione Protocol aims to lower the entry barriers for the renewable energy industry, enabling consumers to build their own "green energy" businesses. Through blockchain technology, Dione has created a platform that incentivizes the use of green energy and connects energy production and supply chain processes more efficiently and transparently to end users, utilities, investors, and regulators.

The core architecture of Dione is a PoS-based L1 blockchain that is EVM-compatible and built on Avalanche, featuring strong processing capabilities and strict data privacy protection.

The project has built an energy trading market called Nebra, which directly connects energy producers and consumers, enabling peer-to-peer energy trading, saving resources and costs. While transactions occur through Nebra, the actual transfer of energy units still takes place via the power grid.

Interestingly, the validation nodes of the Dione blockchain utilize the Starlink satellite link provided by Musk's SpaceX, while also using solar power, allowing it to operate in remote areas, truly achieving "environmentally friendly" and "decentralized" blockchain.

Although Dione's own blockchain is named Odyseyy and is currently in the testnet phase, it is set to migrate to the mainnet soon. Despite the project being in existence for two years, the progress of the mainnet launch has been slow, but market reactions are worth looking forward to.

Dione's native token DIONE has been deployed on Ethereum and will migrate to the mainnet, no longer subject to taxation. Recently, the price of the DIONE token has increased in the secondary market, with a relatively low market capitalization. With the mainnet launch and growing environmental concerns, the DIONE token is expected to attract more market attention and potential speculation opportunities.

Dione Protocol represents an exciting project that has the potential to change the landscape of the energy industry, combining renewable energy with blockchain technology to provide new possibilities for a more sustainable future.

Rowan Energy: Asset prices doubled within a month, with over 20 times increase this year

Rowan Energy, a new energy company, is driving a green revolution in solar energy utilization. The company has its own L1 blockchain that tracks the output of residential rooftop solar power generation, addressing the transparency issues in the traditional energy market.

Rowan Energy employs a consensus mechanism called "Proof of Generation," where users participate in maintaining the blockchain by proving their solar power generation, making this mechanism more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient.

To achieve this, Rowan Energy offers a hardware solution called SmartMiner, which is a device that combines a smart meter with blockchain cryptocurrency mining. Users install it on the solar panel connection, and this smart box not only calculates power consumption but also generates cryptocurrency rewards. Rowan Energy will pay $RWN tokens worth 10 pence for every kilowatt-hour of solar energy produced.

At the same time, Rowan Energy encourages users to use clean energy long-term. Each time a user purchases a SmartMiner or conducts a transaction on the L1 blockchain, a certain proportion of $RWN tokens will be repurchased to support the token's value.

The total supply of RWN tokens is 545 million, with 150 million allocated to VC and private rounds. Currently, the circulating supply of RWN is 195 million, with the remaining 180 million reserved for DePIN mining output. In the market, RWN has increased by 200% in the past month and has risen by up to 20 times within the year, with a market capitalization of $33 million.

Rowan Energy's innovative approach empowers solar mining, aiming to promote the adoption of renewable energy and achieve both environmental and economic benefits. This project represents a revolution in the energy industry, paving the way for a clean energy future.

SolareumChain: Unique PoG and PoH proof technologies allow environmentally active users to earn rewards

SolareumChain utilizes blockchain technology to incentivize the broader use of green energy in the form of tokens to address the energy crisis. This L1 employs two innovative consensus mechanisms: Proof of Generation (PoG) and Proof of Holding (PoH).

PoG, or Proof of New Energy Generation, is at the core of SolareumChain. In Solareum, "miners" are rewarded not for consuming power but for producing power in a renewable manner, including solar power plants, wind farms, tidal power plants, geothermal installations, and individual rooftop solar panels. They not only generate new energy but also enhance the security of the Solareum L1.

PoG technology ensures that the renewable energy produced is verified and confirmed as legitimate sources, preventing any single entity or group from having excessive control, achieving a truly decentralized solution. This approach not only makes SolareumChain more environmentally friendly but also more secure.

PoH aims to reward those who hold Solareum tokens (SRM) and meet specific criteria. This unique mechanism allows anyone to easily become a validator, contributing to the network's security and integrity. The more SRM held, the more rewards earned, and there is an opportunity to participate in energy generation, becoming an indispensable part of the SolareumChain ecosystem. SRM is also used in Solareum's public energy market, ensuring the transaction and verification processes are publicly verifiable.

Currently, SolareumChain is still in the testnet phase but has made progress. The testnet is processing transactions and undergoing further testing through connections with Tesla batteries. Solareum plans to officially announce a developer program soon, inviting developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) on the testnet in preparation for the public mainnet launch.

In terms of token performance, SRM has seen an increase of about 35% in the past month, with relatively little price fluctuation over the year, and a market capitalization of less than $1.5 million. Although there are relatively few details in the project documentation and on social media, the SRM token still possesses high-risk and high-potential characteristics, and its future development is worth close attention.

Arkreen Network: Web3-based carbon reduction infrastructure that brings together energy supply and demand

Arkreen Network, abbreviated as $AKRE, is a Web3-based carbon reduction infrastructure focused on connecting and monetizing global renewable energy resources. The network brings together energy producers and demand-side participants, enabling them to communicate power data in real-time and build carbon reduction applications.

In the Arkreen Network, energy suppliers, including solar photovoltaic equipment owners and energy-saving households, can report their renewable power output, storage, and consumption, and receive rewards. Demand-side participants can access power data to create applications and services, such as issuing renewable energy certificates and virtual power plants.

To achieve these goals, Arkreen Network employs IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and token economics technologies to digitize energy facility parameters and create a digital twin environment. The project's vision is to encourage power producers to generate more renewable energy, reduce fossil power demand, and improve energy utilization efficiency.

Arkreen supports various "miners" to participate in AKRE token mining while introducing Smart Plugs that can calculate energy consumption of appliances and provide remote power supply, allowing users to provide green power to their appliances. Each Smart Plug also mints a corresponding NFT.

AKRE tokens can be distributed as rewards to contributors, pay network transaction fees, and purchase green energy data services. The total supply of tokens is 10 billion, with 30% allocated for mining, and the remainder distributed to teams, advisors, investors, and other participants in the ecosystem, all subject to certain lock-up and linear release terms. Although there has yet to be a TGE for the tokens, Arkreen Network is actively advancing the project. Unlike previous projects, Arkreen places greater emphasis on energy-related data and credentials, and the broader application of the tokens will require close attention to its official updates.

The development of ReFi may benefit ecological environmental protection, looking forward to more Web3 innovations that are favorable to our planet

Reflecting on the above projects and tracks, we can draw some key insights:

First, these projects span multiple fields, covering various directions such as L1 blockchains, DePIN, and even RWA. This diversity highlights the breadth and potential of the regenerative finance (ReFi) field.

Second, the market capitalizations of these projects are relatively low, and compared to well-known blockchain projects, they have not yet received adequate recognition and attention.

Third, participating in these projects requires certain entry barriers, such as owning solar panels, purchasing specific equipment, or navigating the entire new energy supply chain.

However, these barriers may also be the reason for the relatively small scale of these projects. The clean energy industry itself involves complex interests and policy constraints, making it difficult to disrupt the traditional energy landscape. Although blockchain and IoT technologies offer some improvements, achieving comprehensive transformation still requires time and resources.

It is precisely because of the complexity of these projects that their social value is further highlighted. The challenges they face may be part of their value, which is also a point of interest in the ReFi field.

In the clamor of the crypto market, whether there is enough patience to wait for these projects to mature remains to be seen. For those investors seeking opportunities, low market cap projects may be a potential choice.

The mission of the ReFi Foundation is to redesign the monetary system to better coordinate with the Earth. The traditional financial system converts natural resources into currency while neglecting the protection and restoration of ecosystems. This requires fundamental change.

Although the ReFi field currently focuses mainly on carbon credit trading, we can optimistically predict that the development of ReFi will introduce more currency backed by natural capital, enabling verifiable transaction transfers via blockchain, covering a broader range of areas, including green agriculture, water resource purification, and biodiversity protection.

The development of green Web3 is crucial for environmental protection. Blockchain technology is a core prerequisite for achieving Web3, and one of the core ideas of Web3 is to build a more environmentally friendly digital world. Although Bitcoin mining has raised concerns about energy consumption, blockchain technology is also seeking solutions, such as utilizing renewable energy and effectively using idle energy.

In summary, although these projects face numerous challenges, they represent positive exploration and attempts in the ReFi field. While closely monitoring the crypto market, we should also continue to pay attention to these projects, as they may provide key insights and guidance for building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly digital future. We hope these projects can overcome difficulties and make greater contributions to global renewable energy and environmental protection efforts. This will also be our shared responsibility and challenge.