Virtual Currency to induce energy efficiency

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a non-profit organization that promotes energy efficiency, has published a review of various schemes to induce energy efficiency, including the use of virtual currencies.

The virtual currency schemes that are discussed in the paper are not only cryptocurrencies, but also the simple form of electronic currencies confined to an authority, like those of the World of Warcraft Gold.

Though technologically insignificant, such currencies have the benefit of not requiring the energy intensive mining process, which would weaken the effectiveness of such a program. Although several altcoins assert that they have small energy requirements, they have not yet opened to extensive use.