But surely that is what Gridcoin is.
I 'crunch' several BOINC projects which I believe are of benefit to human kind and some of these I do under the auspices of being a member of the Gridcoin Team.
I receive Gridcoin through the Proof of Research algorithm.
Who benefits:
I defray my electricity costs.
The project completes X number or work units and moves closer towards its goal.
Win, win!!
The question is who is buying the Gridcoin. For now it is investors for staking and speculators who hope the price will go up. To sustain PoR mining over the long term, there has to be a use for the coin. If I can buy processing time with Gridcoin, that is a use, it just needs to be advertised so the demand is created.