5.1. Findings and Discussion
- (1)
As can be seen in
Figure 4, the trend of energy blockchain policy issuance in China and the United States has been increasing year by year. Obviously, from 2016 to 2019, the number of policies issued by both countries was small. This shows that the two countries have begun to explore the use of blockchain technology in the energy sector and introduced policies to encourage it. Since 2020, the number of energy blockchain policies in China has increased rapidly, while the US has shown a steady increase. As shown in this investigation, the two countries have confirmed the rationality of energy blockchains and have begun to promote them gradually.
- (2)
From the perspective of the objectives and basic directions of the use of policy tools in China and the US, the word clouds (
Figure 5) show that both the Chinese and US governments consider technology application the primary goal of energy blockchain development and regard technological innovation as the foundation of energy blockchain development. The difference is that China’s energy blockchain policies are more purposeful and pay more attention to policy output or policy effects. Development and application are the overall goals of China’s energy blockchain policies. The US government, similar to the Chinese government, emphasises the application of energy blockchain technology, discussing the integration of the blockchain and other digital technologies as policy support. The overall strategy of the US for energy blockchain technology support focuses on services and research, while China focuses on industrial landing. Overall, for the policy application of energy blockchain development, both countries have a clear functional distinction in their policy positioning. Presently, the countries highlight the use of environmental-based policy tools committed to building consensus and establishing a preliminary institutional framework to create a suitable social ecosystem for the development of the energy blockchain. At the same time, the countries highlight that scientific and technological support, among the supply-based policy tools, can help the development of the energy blockchain.
- (3)
Comparison of energy blockchain policy profiles at the central and provincial levels in China.
In China, the energy blockchain policy at the central level takes into account the use of the policy tools of supply, environment, and demand, indicating that the current energy blockchain policy supports the application of blockchain technology in the energy field from various angles and fields in different ways. The only environmental policy tool is political measures, which is also the most frequently used (57.89%), indicating that the central energy blockchain policies are more based on top-level design and overall planning. Regarding the application of supply-based policy tools, scientific and technical measures (21.05%) are used the most because the application and development of the energy blockchain require a high technical level and infrastructure. Compared with the other types of policy instruments, demand-based policy tools are used the least (10.53%). The “overseas agent” is mainly used to expand overseas markets, but, at present, the development of the energy blockchain industry in China is still in the developmental stage in the domestic market. Therefore, the main target of the policy is not the overseas agent. In general, the development of the energy blockchain industry relies mainly on environmental policy tools. The application of energy blockchain policy tools at the central level is mainly based on the global perspective, committing to removing obstacles and creating a suitable external environment for the development of the energy blockchain. Moreover, it can be seen that while the policies on basic research are few, China’s central energy blockchain policies focus chiefly on the application and exploitation of blockchain technology in the field of energy, as well as the development and exploration of new functions of blockchains. From the perspective of the policy level, China’s central energy blockchain policies mainly focus on the strategic layer and the guidance layer without any specific provisions at the implementation level. This may be because the guidance layer of energy blockchain policies involves the gradual expansion and implementation of strategic-layer policies, which can be said to be the supporting implementation policies of strategic-layer policies, so their number shows an increasing trend. However, since the implementation of the energy blockchain is currently in the exploration stage, a basic direction and goal must be determined first before determining a concrete implementation plan.
At the provincial level, compared with demand-based policies, supply-based policy tools are used more frequently, indicating that local governments are focusing on the development of the energy blockchain industry. Among them, the proportion of scientific and technical measures is 22.97%, showing that local governments attach great importance to the role of science and technology in the construction of the energy blockchain industry. There is no significant difference in the use of environmental policy tools and supply-based policy tools, indicating that local governments are also committed to providing a relaxed environment for the development of the energy blockchain. Political measures account for the largest proportion of the environmental policy tools, indicating that local governments hope to offer incentives for the development of the energy blockchain industry by improving policy systems and mechanisms. However, there is a significant lack of demand-based policy tools. Presently, local governments mainly drive the application of the energy blockchain through public services. Local governments pay attention to industrial input and accelerate industrial application. However, the policy support from local governments at the research and development level of the energy blockchain is insufficient. Regarding the policy level, the proportions of strategic, guidance, and implementation policies show an inverted pyramid shape. The energy blockchain policy support at the local level is more strategic than the policy support at the central level.
- (4)
Comparison of energy blockchain policy profiles at the federal and state levels in the US.
The US regulatory system follows a two-tier federal and state structure. In regard to the policy at the federal level in the US, among environmental-based policy instruments, legal and regulatory measures account for the highest proportion (42.86%), probably because most policies that relate to the energy blockchain at the federal level exist in bills and acts. From the perspective of the innovation value chain, it is shown that the US federal level focuses on the development of energy blockchain application and supports it, to a certain extent, in the research and exploitation stages. Concerning the policy level dimension, energy blockchain policy at the federal level is concentrated at the strategic (78.57%) and guidance levels (21.43%), with no policies at the implementation level.
At the US state level, a variety of environmental-based policy tools are involved, but supply policy tools only use scientific and technical measures. Demand-based policy tools are missing. Moreover, the policy tools of energy blockchain policy at the state level are used unevenly, and there exists no reasonable resource allocation for policy-making. With respect to the innovation value chain dimension, energy blockchain policies at the state level focus on research (41.67%) and application (54.17%), while development only accounts for 4.17%. In the policy level dimension, it is shown that the states have gradually begun to implement the practical application of the energy blockchain, which is consistent with the rule of policy-making. In general, it can be seen that the US states are working hard to provide a favourable policy environment for the development of the energy blockchain. Consistent with the study of Zhao et al. [
51], the growth of energy requires good policy support. Regulatory policies vary from state to state in the United States, and energy blockchains are more likely to thrive in some regions with looser regulatory policies.
- (5)
From an industry perspective (see
Table 5), China’s energy blockchain policy gives the most support to the new-generation information technology industry, accounting for 51.61%, followed by the new energy industry and the energy conservation and environmental protection industry. It is also involved in the new energy automobile industry and related service industries. However, the energy blockchain policy of the US gives the most support to the new energy industry, followed by the new-generation information technology industry, and does not involve the new energy automobile industry. The policy distribution of each industry in different dimensions is basically consistent with that of the whole country.
- (6)
Comparison of network relationships among policy-issuing agencies.
As shown in
Figure 6 and
Figure 7, under the US model, the energy blockchain policy is proposed by each agency independently, and there is no joint publication by each agency. Most energy blockchain policies are sent in the form of bills, indicating that compared with China, the United States is more focused on legalising policies through legislation to improve the legal status of its energy blockchain policies. This kind of energy blockchain policy passed in the form of laws and bills has strong execution and high efficiency. In fact, during the Trump administration, although the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not make blockchains one of the priorities of the US federal government, several other government departments began to support blockchain research and development. The US Department of Homeland Security has funded Florida International University’s new platform for blockchain technology research and development and the University of North Dakota’s blockchain-based network security protection system for fossil fuel power generation. The National Science Foundation has also funded the “Transformable Storage + Blockchain Module for Distributed Energy” project. However, since the energy blockchain involves multiple sectors—energy, natural resources, and science and technology—it is inevitable that the separate formulation of policies by each sector could lead to duplication or even conflicts, which could weaken the authority and consistency of policies and confuse the energy industry. In China, it can be seen that the distribution of institutional relations on energy blockchain policy published at the central level is not concentrated on a few “centre” nodes; instead, the figure shows the characteristics of a non-single centre with three major institutions as the main part and other institutions as the auxiliary. This type of node–network relationship is also the embodiment of China’s new nationwide system. Through multi-agency collaboration, the interests of different agencies are taken into account. However, this also increases the difficulty of policy implementation and the uncertainty of the division of responsibilities between departments.
- (7)
Comparison of energy blockchain policy structure and issues between China and the US.
From the perspective of the subdivision steps of environmental-based policy instruments, the order of choice of China’s policy instruments is markedly different from that of the United States. China used political policies (53.76%), aiming to build an environment conducive to development. Among the environmental-based policy tools in the US, various types of environmental-based policy tools are involved, and the US pays more attention to the use of laws and regulations (31.58%), indicating that its government is not eager to pursue economic benefits but to comprehensively create a suitable environment for the development of the energy blockchains from various aspects, such as finance, taxation, and law. The reason is that blockchains, which have both technical and social attributes, have long gone beyond the scope of technological competition for disruptive technological breakthroughs in the energy industry and have become a major focus of national comprehensive competitiveness. Therefore, the United States’ energy blockchain policy tools give priority to the use of scientific and technical support and legal regulations, which is also expected to defend the United States’ leading position in the global energy blockchain field. This is also consistent with the long-term governing tone of the United States government. Among the environmental-based policy tools, China’s weak links are the financial support policy tools, tax incentives, and laws and regulations, which have proportion of 0% at present. The US has proportions of 5.26%, 10.53%, and 31.58%, respectively, which shows that the US has carried out practical explorations of these tools for the development of the energy blockchain, while China is still in the exploratory stage. In addition, the US energy blockchain fiscal policy tool is also relatively weak (5.26%), significantly lower than the proportion of the other three policy tools, indicating that China and the US still need further follow-up in terms of financial support.
From the perspective of the subdivided measures of supply-based policy tools, China has explored all types of supply-based policy tools. Among them, the most important measure is science and technology support (22.58%), which aims to promote new economic growth points through investment and infrastructure construction. In contrast, the US has some deficiencies concerning supply-based policy. It uses only science and technology support, and the coverage of other tools is 0%, indicating a relatively simple use of supply-based policy tools.
Demand-based policy tools in both China and the US account for the lowest proportion (only 13.98% in China and 2.63% in the US), indicating that the current energy blockchain policies in the two countries have not focused on the demand level of the blockchain industry and that the overall application of energy blockchain technology is still in its infancy. Moreover, specific projects for industrial development and government services have not been widely implemented.
Overall, in China, demand-based policy tools are scarcely used. Environmental-based policy tools provide a clear direction for energy blockchain development, but compared with demand- and supply-based policy tools, they mainly play a role of indirect influence and infiltration, and the proportion of the use of the other two types of policy tools is too small, especially demand-based policy tools, which is not conducive to directly promoting the rapid development of energy blockchains. Although more than half of the policy tools are environmental-based, they are only political measures, lacking tax incentives, financial support, strategic policies, and regulations. Presently, most of the environmental-based policy tools in China are still in the target and strategic planning stage, and tax incentives, financial policy tools, laws and regulations, and other policy tools among the environmental policy tools remain in the preliminary exploration stage. The use of policy tools in the United States is also not comprehensive, and the internal structure of supply- and demand-based policy tools is unbalanced. Among the supply-based policy tools, there are only science and technology support policies, while the proportion of important consulting services, education, and public enterprise is zero, which will result in a lack of necessary public resources supporting measures for the development of the energy blockchain industry. Moreover, demand-based policy instruments accounted for the lowest proportion, with only public services being used. Consequently, the entire energy blockchain policy tool structure is seriously unbalanced, and serious polarisation exists. The use of environmental-based policy tools is excessive, while the use of supply- and demand-based policy tools is largely blank.
Comparing the innovation value chain dimensions of the energy blockchain policies in China and the US (
Figure 8), it can be seen that the policies of the United States and China in the innovation value chain dimension basically cover the whole process of energy blockchain development, but there are still differences in policy selection sequences and preferences. Compared with China’s pyramid structure, the US takes application and research as the main initiative to promote the development of the energy blockchain. This shows that, in promoting the development of the energy blockchain, China prefers technology application to drive the development of technology, summarises experiences and problems from practice, and makes gradual improvements. The US, on the other hand, emphasises application and research simultaneously. American enterprises, research and development institutions, military, and think-tank foundations have always been in the dominant position in basic research, and the market of scientific and technological research and development is very active, which is why the United States pays attention to the basic research of energy blockchains. This structural model is not only conducive to technology research and development but also able to gain real knowledge from practice.
The industrial policy of the energy blockchain emphasises more applications and less research and exploitation, which is inconsistent with China’s emphasis on strengthening basic research to lay a solid foundation for scientific and technological innovation. China is eager to seize the major strategic opportunities in the development of new fields and build a first-mover advantage in China’s blockchain development. However, the current policy structure can lead to an inadequate research base, giving the impression of a quick fix. Being too pragmatic can also easily lead to the use of policy tools that focus on short-term effects, the overuse of strategic measures, and the insufficient use of policy tools, such as technical support, public services, and R&D investment. Although China’s policy structure emphasises application, it neglects support for basic research, which is an important reason why China has been imitating developed countries in terms of the energy blockchain but has never surpassed them. This shows that China’s R&D investment in the development of the energy blockchain is its biggest weakness, which must be strengthened in the future. Application is goal-oriented, but China’s institutional advantage of focusing on achieving big things is essential for the research and exploitation of the energy blockchain in the early stage of development.
The US pays attention to policy innovation and technology research, and it is building a solid foundation for the development of the energy blockchain, as well as pursuing steady and down-to-earth development. However, the proportion of research policies is only 8.25% in China. This shows that the Chinese government pursues quick and more visible short-term economic benefits, whereas its structure of policy tools in the innovation value chain dimension is unbalanced. In the US energy blockchain policy, research and application account for a large proportion, while development accounts for the smallest—only 7.89%—and there is a lack of policy support in the transition stage between research and application.
China’s energy blockchain policy shows an inverted pyramid shape, while strategic, guidance, and implementation policies are evenly distributed in the US policy. This demonstrates that, in promoting the development of the energy blockchain, China takes strategic policies as its guidance and goals, and its policy application is more goal-oriented to ensure energy security and a stable supply and to increase the capacity and efficiency of energy production. Although China places more emphasis on implementation in the innovation value chain dimension, the policies related to implementation exist more in long-term development plans and other documents. On the other hand, the US emphasises the formulation of strategic, guiding, and practical policies simultaneously. This structure is more targeted and conducive to the stable development of the energy blockchain and policy implementation. China’s energy blockchain policies mostly focus on the strategic level and exist in the “14th Five-Year Plan” of various industries without specific implementation opinions and guidance. In particular, policies issued by local governments more or less tend to “follow the central government”, “chase hot spots”, and “blindly invest”, which deviates from the original intention of energy blockchain policy and the realistic demand for economic development. Though there has been a boom in new policies, many of the existing policies actually focus on similar topics, such as new energy storage development, blockchain development, and reform in the energy sector, with some of them merely mechanically repeating instructions from higher authorities. This phenomenon is contrary to the usual law of policy-making, which is not conducive to the concrete implementation of the energy blockchain. This may be because the policy formulation of China’s energy blockchain development is still in the initial stage, and understanding how to activate the energy blockchain application market and realise the reform of the traditional energy structure is still in the exploratory stage. Therefore, the application of predictable and adaptable policy tools at the central and local levels remains a major issue that needs to be further explored in the development of the energy blockchain.
In order to achieve the long-term strategic goal of maintaining America’s international competitiveness, Biden has made energy one of his top priorities since taking office, attaching great importance to the interaction between climate change, energy consumption structure, and industrial structure. In contrast to Mr Trump’s policy of “energy dominance”, Mr Biden launched a coordinated push on the energy and climate agenda, announcing a return to the Paris Agreement and the goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Unlike China, the US, which engages in scientific and technological innovation, has a strong foundation in information, computer algorithms, finance, and other technologies related to the energy blockchain. Its emphasis on the basic research of blockchain technology has achieved promising results, and its policies in the application and implementation stages account for a larger proportion than China’s, indicating that the energy blockchain in the US has been put into practical application and is no longer limited to the guidance of top-level design. The United States, which has a relatively high level of market economy development, has always followed the principle of “big market and small government” and paid attention to strengthening and giving play to the role of market players, such as social partners in the development of artificial intelligence. The US Department of Energy is one of the main departments promoting energy blockchain technology research in the US. The request for the project calls for the development of new concepts for the energy system and the use of blockchain technology to ensure the stability of the energy system. Domestically, the US Department of Energy and other institutions are actively promoting the innovation and application of the energy blockchain. Internationally, the State Department is responsible for actively conducting energy and climate diplomacy with other countries. Organisations are working together to promote the development of blockchains in the energy sector. However, the US ignores the balance in the use of policy tools, especially the lack of demand-side policy tools, which needs to be considered and improved.
5.3. Policy Implications
In both China and the United States, the carbon-neutral goal is a backwind mechanism that links energy, the environment, and high-quality economic growth. Given the strong relevance and importance of energy to production and life, carbon peak planning requires balancing system costs and building system solutions to achieve high-quality economic growth. Based on the above analysis of the three-dimensional structure, this study puts forward systematic policy suggestions for the utilisation of the energy blockchain to optimise the energy structure and achieve carbon neutrality.
The US should improve and reform its energy blockchain policy structure, giving full play to various policy tools. Since the policy of the United States is mainly aimed at the application and research fields, the United States should improve the problems found in the process of research and practical application and find solutions in practice. As an important force promoting the development of blockchains globally, the US should take the lead in building standards for blockchain technology to maximise its value. Moreover, the US should strengthen the cooperation between the government and enterprises, promote the combination of production, education, and research, and develop more possibilities for energy blocks. The development of the open source community in the United States is more advanced than in other countries, so the United States should provide more opportunities and support for the development of the open source community and provide lessons for other countries.
While the use of blockchains in the energy sector has many benefits, it is important to prevent such innovation from exceeding the ability of the United States to evaluate energy blockchains. The United States should strengthen the analysis of the rights and responsibilities involved in the application of energy blockchain technology, establish a scientific energy blockchain evaluation system, and evaluate the reliability, openness, equality, equality of responsibilities and rights, transparency, etc. For the new energy blockchain project, the United States should assess the uncertainty of the project and whether there is an equal distribution of responsibilities and authority between the parties to the energy transaction. While we advocate strengthening the risk assessment of energy blockchain projects, due to the high proportion of “legal and regulatory” policy tools used in the United States, care should be taken to prevent over-regulation and stifling the development of the energy blockchain. The US government should avoid imposing undue constraints and engage moderately.
The research and application of the blockchain in China’s energy sector thus remain in the exploratory stage. Evidently, China’s energy blockchain policies relatively lack research policies. Moreover, the lack of basic research policies hinders technological progress, directly resulting in the fact that China’s energy blockchain policies are mostly focused on the strategic level but not on the implementation level. China’s energy structure has been dominated by fossil fuels for a long time. It is not easy to achieve the goal of “dual carbon”. The fundamental reform of the energy structure lies in policies. This study also confirms the view of Zhu et al. (2020) [
30] that despite China’s technological backwardness, the biggest obstacle to China’s development of the energy blockchain remains policy issues.
As the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee proposed, China should build a new nationwide system to tackle the key and core technologies under the condition of a socialist market economy. In this context, national policies play an important guiding role, and the central government emphasises the route of technological progress and economic development. China’s central government should thus learn from the US on this basis and take advantage of the new nationwide system in accordance with the purpose of “concentrating resources to accomplish great things”, fully integrate China’s resources that are scattered in various fields, and maximise the input–output ratio of China’s scientific and technological research and development.
China should focus on industry–university–research cooperation and international cooperation. Large private enterprises, state-owned enterprises, universities, research institutes, and other institutions should cooperate with each other in investing their core resources in energy blockchain fields. China should thus actively create conditions for the application of the energy blockchain and strengthen its policy guidance and support for basic research. It should strengthen basic research by supporting universities, enterprises, and research institutes, establish an energy blockchain research platform, and vigorously promote the construction of distributed power generation. Due to the security of energy and climate issues, the energy game between China and the United States is also likely to intensify, and the energy cooperation between the two countries still has great limitations. China’s economy continues to strengthen energy blockchain cooperation with other countries, including the United States, to expand the industrial scale of the energy blockchain.
China’s energy sector is dominated by large state-owned enterprises, making it difficult for private companies to enter the market. The over-centralised energy market structure and strict regulatory environment also make it difficult for China to adapt to the distributed energy operation mode. China should improve its energy blockchain policies at all levels and promote the implementation of policies through institutional reform. China should also reform its energy system and, if necessary, introduce new laws to ensure connectivity between the blockchain and the energy sector. Regulators should promote smart regulation to ensure safe and fair transactions.