By Stan Higgins,

A Brooklyn blockchain startup has been awarded a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its work using the tech to facilitate peer-to-peer energy transfers.

LO3 is one of several startups seeking to use blockchain to reimagine how energy transfer networks function, looking to distributed networks as a means to cut inefficiencies and costs. Founder Lawrence Orsini and TRC Energy Services project manager Julianna Yun Wei are listed as inventors. The application was originally submitted to the USPTO last November.

The patent, published on 25th October, focuses on the “use of computationally generated thermal energy”.

The patent details how blockchain comes into play, using the tech – ethereum in the case of LO3 – to “confirm transactions between each other or with other devices on the network”.

The patent goes into further detail:

“The distributed computation applications may be turing-complete which allows for their creation and operation on the distributed computing network that is independent of the individual nodes of the network. This provides for the autonomous, secure control of computing devices on the network.”

Earlier this year, LO3, in partnership with startup ConsenSys, spearheaded a project in New York that saw local residents selling excess power. The prototype utilized the ethereum network as a distributed mechanism for selling those units of power via smart contracts.

The startup is also involved in a separate initiative, called Brooklyn Microgrid, which is aimed at helping neighborhoods manage energy loads more effectively.