Volcanoes?
No, this isn't a flashback to your eighth grade science project.
President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, is proposing harnessing the geothermal power of volcanoes
to mine Bitcoin in his country.
Believe it or not,
this idea isn't just to make the news of El Salvador using Bitcoin as legal tender even more explosive
than it already has been.
It's a truly sustainable energy source that El Salvador already uses.
And it may be the key to unlocking a green future for Bitcoin.
Let's get it!
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In this video, we look at using geothermal energy
and how this green energy source can be used to mine Bitcoin.
Green energy is a hot topic right now, especially when it comes to crypto assets.
It's no secret that I believe crypto has been unfairly targeted
and really isn't the planet polluter some would want you to believe that it is.
But since at the very core of crypto is the idea of freedom, autonomy and a better world,
why not look at ways to keep our air and our oceans cleaner?
And our hippies happier.
Geothermal energy to mine Bitcoin is the newest idea coming out of El Salvador.
And you've got to admit,
they've had some pretty good ideas lately.
So let's get into the not so dirty details.
LaGeo is a Salvadoran state-owned geothermal company that was incorporated in 1993,
and right now it generates 23% of the electricity consumed in El Salvador.
There are three methods of extracting heat energy from the Earth's crust,
and this geothermal energy plant in El Salvador uses binary cycle stations,
which means that wells are dug into the earth
and a liquid with a lower boiling point than water is passed by the very hot geothermal water underground.
The liquid turns into steam which rushes through the pipes and drives turbines.
That energy passes through a generator,
which ultimately turns hot steam energy into electricity.
El Salvador has a lot of this very hot geothermal water
because it's located right near the Ring of Fire
and there are 20 potentially active volcanoes in El Salvador.
This gives El Salvador a lot of opportunity to harness the power of geothermal energy.
And the President of El Salvador tweeted Thursday
that a brand new geothermal well was already dug to provide 95 megawatts of clean energy.
And he plans to build a Bitcoin mining hub nearby.
He tweeted a video of water vapor gushing out at incredible force.
Check it out.
There's no doubt in my mind after seeing this video that there's enough steam there to spin a turbine or two.
I guess Johnny Cash wasn't kidding.
There is definitely something burning in the ring of fire.
And right now, it's looking like clean digital gold mining power.
So how much energy can be produced with geothermal?
How many ASIC miners could be supported by a geothermal mining site?
And how does geothermal energy measure up to wind and solar?
Well, renewable energy isn't new for El Salvador.
And they're well versed in all kinds of renewable energy sources.
In 2007, the Salvadoran government passed a decree that allows incentive and tax breaks
for companies that develop renewable energy sources.
Tropical El Salvador gets a lot of solar radiation.
And solar panels are installed on government buildings, schools and universities.
In total, the 14 solar energy systems in El Salvador have an installed capacity of 344 megawatts.
In fact, El Salvador's geographic location creates many opportunities for renewable energy---
wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal.
High winds coming off the Pacific Ocean power wind farms.
High amounts of heat and sunlight create abundant solar energy.
Hydroelectric energy is generated from the Lempa River.
And, of course, geothermal energy is harnessed from the proximity to volcanoes.
If El Salvador is such a green energy all-star,
why is geothermal the winning bet for sustainable Bitcoin mining?
Even though solar energy actually produces more electricity for El Salvador
than its volcanoes and geothermal energy,
it's how compact geothermal plants are that makes it a great solution for green energy Bitcoin mining.
A wind farm would have to be three times as big as the geothermal plant
to generate the same amount of energy.
And a solar energy plant would have to be eight times as big.
Another factor is that wind and solar have unpredictable energy output levels
because they don't produce when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining.
One Bitcoin mining ASIC requires 72,000 gigawatts to mine one Bitcoin.
But it's not as easy as saying each ASIC uses this much energy
because mining Bitcoin is actually a competition between miners
or a collaboration between miners in a mining pool.
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is a computing device that is used
for the sole purpose of mining Bitcoin.
One Bitcoin block is mined every 10 minutes.
And each block gets a mining reward of 6.25 Bitcoin.
144 blocks are mined every day.
But miners compete to solve these blocks.
Only the winner gets the reward.
And the odds of winning are actually very low.
This is why miners create mining pools.
So they can share the profit relative to their hashrate.
If they contributed a 1% hashrate, they get 1% of the reward.
Hashrate, for all you non-nerds out there,
is the processing power of miners contributing to the network.
A good-sized Bitcoin mining operation would have hundreds to a thousand ASIC microprocessors.
And each ASIC draws 72 kilowatts per day.
Times that by 1000,
and the Salvadoran Bitcoin mining operation would need about 72,000 kilowatts of energy every day to support it.
The geothermal well that's been dug in El Salvador for this project
was said by President Bukele to have a capacity of 95 megawatts or [95000] kilowatts,
which is more than enough to support the Salvadoran mining operation
needing 3000 kilowatts per hour.
The compact size of the geothermal power plant and its capacity to generate enough electricity
means that the Bitcoin mining facility can be built half a mile away.
Okay, so, wow! Bitcoin mining combined with electrical engineering.
It's official.
After breaking that down, we've definitely joined the legion of nerds.
It's certainly going to be a major undertaking for El Salvador not only to use Bitcoin for legal tender
but also to mine it in a sustainable way using the awesome power of volcanoes.
Looking at all the facts,
it seems absolutely possible that El Salvador can and will do this.
The geothermal power is the way to do it.
President Nayib Bukele's passion in wanting to make Bitcoin happen in a big way for El Salvador
is sure to push progress along.
He was asked if Bitcoin can be mined in a sustainable way,
and engineers dug a new geothermal well
and planned to start immediately to build a power facility just for Bitcoin mining.
Explosive volcanic energy and powerful sentiment by the President and the people
are sure to be a recipe for success.
We can't wait to see how that progress unfolds for El Salvador and for Bitcoin.
Leave a comment down below and let us know what you think of using volcanic energy for Bitcoin mining.
Will El Salvador lead the charge for sustainable Bitcoin mining?
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BitBoy out.