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Bitcoin mining is good for the energy transition, scientists say
🕑 Added 2023-12-12 05:50:19 +0000 UTC[This video seems to have upset some people. I'm not entirely sure why. First, this is totally a real paper that you can read yourself. Second, it's not like I support this idea. I merely found it an interesting argument. Probably even makes sense from a financial perspective.]
According to a new study from researchers at Cornell, bitcoin mining could be used to power our transition to green energy. No, they’re not joking. At least I don’t think so.
Yes, Bitcoin mining has a bad reputation for eating up a lot of energy, but it has one big advantage over some renewable energy projects. It’s that it makes money.
You see, as we just talked about in a previous episode, while wind and solar is being expanded quickly, the grid expansion is lagging. There’s now a total of three thousand Gigawatts in renewable power capacity sitting around, unconnected to the power grid. And what use are your wind turbines if you can’t bring the power to people?
Well, according to the authors of the new paper, these sources of renewable energy could be hooked up to bitcoin farms, and that’d make them profitable faster.
The authors identified multiple projects across the United States which, they say, could make millions of dollars immediately if they powered bitcoin farms rather than just waiting for a grid connection. This includes 32 planned renewable installations in Texas which could produce profits of 47 million dollars before they start operating commercially.
Of course, not all is sunny. The biggest problem with wind and solar also turns out to be a problem here. Renewable energy generation from these sources fluctuate with wind strength and sun exposure and can make bitcoin mining inefficient. There’s also the issue that Bitcoin mining operations also have upfront costs and other environmental impacts, such as mining the metal that’s needed for the computer equipment.
And then there’s the issue that if the bitcoin mining actually turns out to be profitable, why’d you ever want connect the power plant to the grid? Welcome to the future.
Comments
Ironically, cryptocurrency is fiat money too. It has value only because the market says it does. It's a joke, IMO.
Ignoring the fact that Bitcoin will not replace government issued money, we really need the IFR type fast breeder for the intermittent reason that you mention. There is also the problem of resource waste as solar panels have at most $2 of commercially recyclable materials (this is from a solar panel recycler), so we need to rework the entire system to end that waste.
The immediate problem, or in the short to middle-term, with cryptocurrency is not the coin, is the damaging speculation on it driven by the example of unchecked greed of clever-stupid people that play financial roulette with them, trying to make a killing and get away with it (with lots of real hard currency) before it is curtains for their coin, with the collapsing of their fantasy Non-National Bank. Real National Banks and regulatory government organizations could put brakes on that, but they don't. Because corruption and silliness are part of this world's DNA. So in the case of crypto, the opposite from the Enlightenment free-traders' motto applies: "Do NOT let it be. Do NOT let it happen." The raise and raise in value of crypto and subsequent collapse into next to nothing has happened already so many times and been out in detail on all news media, that I wonder what the Cornell "Scientists" are smoking and, or who is paying them to write that (and get published somewhere, probably by one of those predatory editorial houses). Corrupt scientists are not new news, although there have been particularly infamous cases, such as those of big-name medical experts defending, in turn, leaded gasoline and cigarettes, as being totally harmless. It is not so much a question of being good or bad from a physics/global warming point-of-view; the reality is that crypto is dreadful from the point of view of having a stable enough economic system one can live with. But when it comes to crypto "carbon coins", well, that is very different kettle of fish.
