Abstract
Blockchain technology has grown tremendously in popularity since cryptocurrencies proved its scalable adoption. The underlying construct of a fully decentralized, distributed ledger has significant implications for Smart City use cases. This article posits applications of blockchains in these smart city environments and discusses some of the benefits and the costs incurred when delivering enabling capabilities for these future realities. We begin with a brief technical description of blockchain, and its history in cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. Following this introduction, the reader will delve into the benefits of applying blockchain technology to areas which include smart microgrids for next generation power distribution and future ridesharing markets enabled by autonomous vehicles. Finally, the article considers the impact of disruption to existing means for providing these services, and some of the societal benefits that could be realized after these capabilities are generally available.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Morris D (2017) Bitcoin hits a new record high, but stops short of $20,000. Fortune [Online]. http://fortune.com/2017/12/17/bitcoin-record-high-short-of-20000/. Accessed 12 Jan 2019
Rooney K (2019) Bitcoin falls 7 percent to below $8,000 after Twitter’s ban on cryptocurrency ads. CNBC [Online]. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/26/bitcoin-falls-7-percent-to-below-8000-after-twitter-bans-cryptocurrency-ads.html. Accessed 12 Jan 2019
Josiah W (2019) Bitcoin mining difficulty just saw its second-largest drop in history. CCN [Online]. https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-mining-difficulty-just-saw-its-second-largest-drop-in-history/. Accessed 02 Jan 2019
Wadhwa V (2016) R.I.P., bitcoin. It’s time to move on. Washington Post [Online]. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/01/19/r-i-p-bitcoin-its-time-to-move-on. Accessed 02 Jan 2019
Peck ME; IEEE Spectrum Staff (2015) The bitcoin blockchain explained. IEEE Spectrum [Online]. https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/computing/networks/video-the-bitcoin-blockchain-explained. Accessed 12 Jan 2019
Peck ME (2017) How blockchains work. IEEE Spectrum
Chen L, Xu L, Gao Z, Lu Y, Shi W (2018) Protecting early stage proof-of-work based public blockchain. In: 2018 48th annual IEEE/IFIP international conference on dependable systems and networks workshops (DSN-W), Luxembourg, Luxembourg. IEEE, pp 122–127. https://doi.org/10.1109/DSN-W.2018.00050
Cognizant (2017) Demystifying blockchain [Online]. https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/demystifying-blockchain-codex2199.pdf. Accessed 12 Jan 2019
Fairley P (2017) The ridiculous amount of energy it takes to run bitcoin. IEEE Spectrum [Online]. https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/policy/the-ridiculous-amount-of-energy-it-takes-to-run-bitcoin. Accessed 11 Jan 2019
Buchko S (2017) How long do bitcoin transactions take? CoinCentral [Online]. https://coincentral.com/how-long-do-bitcoin-transfers-take. Accessed 12 Jan 2019
Bitinfocharts (2019) Ethereum block time historical chart [Online]. https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/ethereum-confirmationtime.html. Accessed 17 Jan 2019
Creer D, Crook R, Hornsby M et al (2016) Proving Ethereum for the clearing use case. Royal Bank of Scotland [Online]. https://cdn.relayto.com/media/files/lBFCJiHESx64mWhBAlzs_emeraldTechnicalPaper.pdf. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Uber Technologies Inc (2019) Uber company info [Online]. https://www.uber.com/newsroom/company-info. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
O’Dea J (2017) How many rides do Lyft and Uber give per day? New data help cities plan for the future. Union of Concerned Scientists [Online]. https://blog.ucsusa.org/jimmy-odea/how-many-rides-do-lyft-and-uber-give-per-day-new-data-help-cities-plan-for-the-future. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
FundSpec.IO (2017) Audi beats Tesla (And GM) to level 3 autonomy. Seeking Alpha [Online]. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4087480-audi-beats-tesla-gm-level-3-autonomy. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Ohnsman A (2018) Waymo is millions of miles ahead in robot car tests; does it need a billion more? Forbes [Online]. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2018/03/02/waymo-is-millions-of-miles-ahead-in-robot-car-tests-does-it-need-a-billion-more. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Naughton K, Bergen M (2017) Alphabet’s Waymo cuts cost of key self-driving sensor by 90%. Bloomberg [Online]. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-08/alphabet-s-waymo-cuts-cost-of-key-self-driving-sensor-by-90. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2018) Petitions for exemption received during this administration [Online]. https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/petitions-nhtsa. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Wayland M (2018) GM ride-hailing fleet would ditch steering wheel, pedals in 2019. Automotive News [Online]. https://www.autonews.com/article/20180112/MOBILITY/180119919/gm-ride-hailing-fleet-would-ditch-steering-wheel-pedals-in-2019. Accessed: 19-Jan-2019
Rainwater B (2018) For smart cities, blockchain technology opens new possibilities. National League of Cities [Online]. https://citiesspeak.org/2018/07/09/for-smart-cities-blockchain-technology-opens-new-possibilities. Accessed: 19 Jan 2019
Schiller B (2017) This new blockchain project gives homeless New Yorkers a digital identity. Fast Company [Online]. https://www.fastcompany.com/40500978/this-new-blockchain-project-gives-homeless-new-yorkers-a-digital-identity. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Lattin P (2018) How Vegas will monetize autonomous vehicles. Pace Vegas [Online]. https://pacevegas.com/2018/10/vegas-will-monetize-autonomous-vehicles/. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Metro Magazine (2018) Transportation workers form coalition to stop driverless buses in Ohio. Metro [Online]. http://www.metro-magazine.com/management-operations/news/731336/transportation-workers-form-coalition-to-stop-driverless-buses-in-ohio. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Langdon J (2008) The windmill: a medieval ‘steam engine’? Presented at 6th technology and human capital formation in the east and west S.R. Epstein memorial conference, London School of Economics, London, UK
United States Department of Energy (2018) The war of the currents: AC vs DC power. energy.gov [Online]. https://www.energy.gov/articles/war-currents-ac-vs-dc-power. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai P, Pörtner HO, Roberts D et al (2018) An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15
Krey V, Masera O, Blanford G, Bruckner T et al (2014) Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change. Contribution of working group III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change annex II: metrics and methodology. Cambridge University Press, New York
Denholm P, O’Connell M, Brinkman G, Jorgenson J (2015) Overgeneration from solar energy in California: a field guide to the duck chart. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-65023. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65023.pdf
Breuer H (2018) A microgrid grows in Brooklyn. Siemens AG [Online]. https://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/energy-and-efficiency/smart-grids-and-energy-storage-microgrid-in-brooklyn.html. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Gajda J (2017) The North Carolina solar experience: high penetration of utility-scale DER on the distribution system. Presented to IEEE power & energy society working group on distributed resources integration, Jul 2017
Anair D, Mahmassani A (2012 June) State of charge: electric vehicles’ global warming emissions and fuel-cost savings across the United States. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-report.pdf
Krauss C (2016) Coal production plummets to lowest level in 35 years. New York Times
Kuykendall T, Cotting A (2018) Coal plant closings double in Trump’s 2nd year despite ‘end of war on coal’. S&P Global Market Intelligence
Bruninga R (2012) Overlooking L1 charging at-work in the rush for public charging speed. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis
Siemens AG (2016) How microgrids can achieve maximum return on investment: the role of the advanced microgrid controller. Siemens AG [Online]. https://w3.usa.siemens.com/smartgrid/us/en/microgrid/Documents/MGK%20Guide%20to%20How%20Microgrids%20Achieve%20ROI%20v5.pdf. Accessed 19 Jan 2019
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Moorman, J., Stricklen, M. (2020). Smart Cities Applications of Blockchain. In: McClellan, S. (eds) Smart Cities in Application. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19396-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19396-6_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19395-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19396-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)