Environmentalist Ricardo Navarro argued why he is concerned about El Salvador’s Bitcoin mining a process where blocks are added to a blockchain, verifying transactions. It is also the process through which new bitcoin or some altcoins are created. plans with geothermal energy.
***
Along with the acceptance ofBitcoin the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world. It is a decentralized digital currency that enables users to make trustless peer-to-peer transactions. as legal tender, El Salvador has also been a pioneer in experimenting with crypto mining using volcanic energy. In fact, their ideaes crear Bitcoin CityThe first city in the world whose construction and operation will be backed by the issuance of bonds based on the digital digital technologies are these electronic tools that have the ability to generate, store or even process data. currency. The city would be built near the Conchagua volcano, which will supply the city and cryptocurrency cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that use cryptographic technologies to secure their operation. activities.
Many applauded his idea, however, the environmentalist world has begun to voice their fears about these plans.
Ricardo Navarro, director of theSalvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, expressed to the mediaThe Telegraph on the concerns of extractingbitcoins with energy from the country’s volcanoes. The environmentalist pointed out that the focus of the government of President Nayib Bukele should be oriented to provide stable electricity to the six million citizens in the country and that the operating costs of geothermal energy replace oil. In this regard he said:
“Geothermal energy still costs more than oil, otherwise we would already be using more. What will end up happening is that we’ll just be buying more oil.”
Lack of water
Navarro, ganador del Goldman Environmental AwardThe use of geothermal energy requires steam as an integral part of its functionality, he said. Steam is obtained from groundwater or water held under rocks and must be readily available for the government to tap the potential of geothermal energy. Navarro toldThe Telegraph que“We already have problems with the lack of water in El Salvador”.
He is not alone in his warning. The country’s problems with the use of geothermal energy were amplified by the head of the International Geothermal Association, Marit Brommer. She pointed out the impracticable nature of President Bukele’s claims of building a cityBitcoin with the power of volcanoes.
“El Salvador is known for its geothermal potential. But if it promises something in the next six months, that would not be feasible.“, dijo Brommer.“It’s likely to take at least two or three years, and probably longer, before it can generate electricity.”
The volcanoes of El Salvador
Zycrypto explains that El Salvador is home to 23 active volcanoes and at least six are being monitored for seismic activity. The geothermal energy of these volcanoes accounts for 25% of the country’s power generation.
On October 1st, less than one month after the adoption of theBitcoin as legal tender, President Bukele announced that the country had extracted the his first bitcoin using geothermal energy with zero emissions . This provoked positive reactions from the communityBitcoinespecially given the grid’s problems with environmentalists over energy consumption levels.
At that time, according to various sources, this new stream of energy should be used to makeBitcoin be greener with more plans on that front to harness the resources wasted through gas a term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to a unit of measuring the computational effort of conducting transactions or smart contracts, or launch DApps in the Ethereum network. It is the “fuel” of the Ethereum network. *see Gas Limit and Gas Price. flaring, which are highly harmful to the environment. Given that theBitcoin can be extracted anywhere with an Internet connection, theAsics can be installed using gas that would otherwise be flared.
However, now the Salvadoran expert Navarro dismantles this theory.
Sources: Telegraph , Bitcoin.com , Zycrypto , archivo
Version ofDiarioBitcoin
Imagen deUnsplash
