Expert questions viability of geothermal Bitcoin mining in El Salvador

Using geothermal energy from volcanoes to mine Bitcoin would be more expensive than burning oil. This view is held by the лауреат престижной премии среди экологов Ricardo Navarro, The Telegraph reports.

“Such energy is still not cheap, otherwise we would have long since exploited it. As a result of the president’s initiative [El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele] we will simply end up buying more oil”, — said the expert.

According to the expert, producing geothermal energy requires steam and groundwater, while the country is experiencing a deficit of water resources.

Navarro’s view is shared by Marit Brommer, executive director of the International Geothermal Association.

“What he [the president] has promised in the next six months looks unfeasible. Resources must be allocated, modelling conducted, wells drilled. Generating electricity will take at least two to three years, if not longer”, she explained.

In October ForkLog reported on Salvadoran testing of mining the first cryptocurrency with geothermal volcanic energy.

In November the government announced the issue of Bitcoin bonds totaling $1 billion.

Half of the funds raised will go to this project. The other half will go to the construction of Bitcoin City (Bitcoin City). For its power supply, a geothermal power plant will be built near the volcano in the region. Its capacity will also be used for Bitcoin mining.

In June, Bukele proposed to organise mining on clean geothermal energy of volcanoes in the country a bill recognizing Bitcoin as an official means of payment.

The law took effect on September 7.

Subscribe to ForkLog’s channel on YouTube!