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The top journal in the energy field, Nature Energy, has published a research paper titled A blockchain consensus mechanism that uses Proof of Solution to optimize energy dispatch and trading by Associate Professor Sijie Chen (dual appointment) from the College of Smart Energy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and his team. The paper proposes a new blockchain consensus mechanism and mathematical optimization method for energy system dispatch and trading.

Sijie Chen is the first author and corresponding author of this paper. The collaborators include Haning Mi (PhD candidate at SJTU), Dr. Jian Ping, Professor Zheng Yan, Zeyu Shen (master student), and Xuezhi Liu from SJTU, as well as Associate Professor Ning Zhang, Professor Qing Xia, and Professor Chongqing Kang from Tsinghua University.

The contributions of this paper are not limited to the field of energy system dispatch and trading, but also extend to the fields of mathematical optimization and blockchain.This paper proposes a decentralized (or multi-centralized) trusted optimization architecture. Compared with centralized optimization, decomposition and coordination, and pure distributed optimization architectures, Proof of Solution (PoSo) ensures mutual checks and balances among all participating entities. Even if some participants attempt to disrupt collaborative optimization through individual malicious behavior or collusion to gain improper benefits, PoSo can still ensure the implementation of the optimal solution, demonstrating high fault tolerance. Compared with the decomposition and coordination method that uses blockchain as the coordination layer, PoSo achieves significantly higher computational efficiency. When compared with decomposition and coordination, pure distributed, and blockchain-based coordination-layer decomposition and coordination architectures, PoSo is also applicable to a wider range of optimization problem types.

This paper also proposes a blockchain architecture, in which the consensus layer can not only facilitate consensus, but also complete tasks and applications that usually must be handled at the blockchain contract layer. In traditional blockchain architectures, large-scale complex optimization problems can only be solved at the smart contract layer. PoSo, however, accomplishes two tasks simultaneously at the consensus layer: reaching consensus among all nodes, and solving and verifying large-scale optimization problems. This significantly improves the operational efficiency of the blockchain.

【Paper and Journal Information】

Nature Energy covers all energy-related fields, including energy materials, energy preparation, energy conversion, energy environment, energy policy, and energy systems. It publishes an average of over 80 research articles annually. Its latest impact factor (2020) is 60.9, ranking 8th among global journals across all fields.