What if Bitcoin mining was no longer a problem, but a solution? More and more experts are highlighting its growing role in supporting renewable energy, particularly by reducing energy waste and accelerating the development of new green infrastructure.
Bitcoin mining becomes vital for renewable energy
For many years, media outlets and politicians around the world have been constantly expressing negative criticism of Bitcoin, sometimes going so far as to make inconsistent statements or relay unverifiable data.
Alex De Vries, for example, a former official at the Dutch Central Bank, claimed in a report that a single Bitcoin transaction consumes the equivalent of a swimming pool of water. Beyond the absurdity of this statement, it was relayed by numerous media outlets without any serious verification being carried out or the many corrections made by the Bitcoin community being taken into account.
In fact, today’s experts on Bitcoin are unanimous: Bitcoin mining is not an ecological disaster, but on the contrary, it is becoming indispensable to the energy transition.
A recent article by Daniel Batten, an activist and energy expert who has been focusing on Bitcoin for several years, highlights that Bitcoin is even becoming a driving force behind the ongoing transition, a thesis supported by 14 of the last 16 scientific reports and 90% of the specialized media.
According to estimates by the Digital Assets Research Institute and the University of Cambridge, between 52.4% and 56.7% of the energy used by Bitcoin mining now comes from sustainable sources. This is mainly because miners act as consumers of last resort, i.e., consumers of energy that would otherwise be wasted.
By absorbing surplus electricity, miners help monetize excess energy, supporting the profitability of power plants. Batten also points out that by guaranteeing to be a buyer for energy produced during peak production periods, mining would reduce the return on investment period for solar and wind farms from 8 years to around 3.5 years.
In Texas, the integration of miners into the ERCOT grid has reportedly reduced energy waste by 4% while increasing the profitability of renewable energy producers by 12%. In Ethiopia, the surplus from the GERD dam sold to miners has even generated $55 million.
Could France benefit from this?
The impact of Bitcoin mining goes beyond simply consuming surplus green energy. The industry is researching and developing solutions to reuse the “fatal” heat generated by ASICs, the computers used to mine Bitcoin.
For example, in Finland, several miners supply district heating networks serving cities with tens of thousands of inhabitants, while in the Netherlands, Bitcoin Brabant heats its agricultural greenhouses, replacing their natural gas consumption.
While mining innovation is becoming the industry standard around the world, France is turning its back on this opportunity.
The hot news surrounding Exaion, EDF’s cryptocurrency subsidiary, illustrates the ideological renunciation of our leaders. Despite a counter-offer from a French consortium supported by the National Bitcoin Institute (INBi), the French Treasury approved the sale of the company to the American giant Mara Holdings.
After holding back French miners for years, the state is finally selling off its assets to an entity subject to the Cloud Act, along with a non-competition clause prohibiting EDF from returning to the sector for two years.
