The issues regarding consumption of energy generated from fossil resources have become particularly relevant in 2022 due to the aggravation of political and economic circumstances causing an energy crisis. Taking into account the existing need to increase the amount of energy produced from renewable energy resources in the European Union, the development of the digital and innovation economy as well as the fact that the mining of crypto-assets can consume large amounts of energy, the study aims to evaluate the impact of the introduction of crypto-assets regulation on the possibilities of using crypto-assets in the renewable energy sector. The results of the NOISE (Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, Exceptions) method used indicate the main need – to introduce regulation in an industry where it has not existed before. The most important identified opportunity is to create new crypto-assets and renewable energy business models; improvements are related to transparency of operations and environmental awareness. Main strengths – the introduction of a single, globally new regulatory framework. Regulation’s exceptions are mainly related to even more significant responsibility towards the environment and sustainability issues. Statistical analysis of Bitcoin energy consumption data was performed and it indicates increasing consumption of energy to generate crypto-assets. The share of renewable energy resources used for crypto mining is decreasing, while the use of fossil resources (e.g. natural gas) is increasing. The results of the study, in general, form one of the first scientific opinions on the use of crypto-assets specifically in the renewable energy sector, considering the current legal framework’s development process and indicating future research topics.

The need for secure and reliable applications will increase due to the growing necessity for sustainably and independently produced energy. For example, the amount of energy generated by individuals at their homes will probably grow fast in the near future so requiring for easy-to-use and precise solutions. To transform and facilitate the processes related to energy sector it is possible to use blockchain technology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and analyse different areas of blockchain application in the renewable energy sector. Using content, SWOT and PESTLE analysis, the results show that the main strengths and opportunities are confidentiality, immutability of recordings and potential involvement of each individual, while weaknesses and threats � scalability, compatibility and legal framework. Latvia is already using more (42.1%) renewable energy than in the European Union on average (22.1%) but in order to meet the binding targets for the Member States by 2030, the blockchain technology could promote development in this sector. The results of the study improves the scientific opinion on blockchain technology in sustainable energy field by identifying potential implementation benefits and challenges; thus, gathering the knowledge for easier moving towards real-life implementations and also highlighting the areas with the need for specific further research.