NEW YORK (awp/afp) – Two technology companies, Block (ex-Square) and Blockstream, are preparing the launch, in June, of a center for the creation of bitcoins, or “mine”, entirely powered by solar energy, a new effort to make cryptocurrencies less polluting.
The dematerialized payment group Block and the “blockchain” specialist Blockstream have each invested six million dollars in this pilot project which should initially produce around 0.1 bitcoin per day, the director explained to AFP on Friday. Blockstream General Adam Back.
Blockstream announced on Friday that the center would be located in West Texas and equipped with Tesla solar panels and batteries.
“A lot of people are talking about the theory and we wanted to put it into practice, to have an observable base”, described the leader.
More than creating bitcoins, “the goal is to prove that + mining + can help finance infrastructure” of renewable energy.
The logic, according to Adam Back, is that bitcoin’s creation center can only use excess capacity from facilities that generate renewable energy, with the bulk of the electricity going to ordinary home and business consumption. .
The creation activity would therefore smooth the consumption linked to a renewable energy source, avoiding peaks and troughs. The site’s consumption data will be accessible to the general public.
Creating a bitcoin requires a series of complex computer calculations, which require an ever-increasing amount of electricity.
Adam Back indicates that the two project partners are already thinking of increasing the size, up to 100 times, on the same site, if the test proves conclusive.
This is not the first cryptocurrency project to rely entirely on renewable energy.
In El Salvador, where bitcoin is now an official currency, “mining” uses, for example, a geothermal power plant that takes advantage of the energy from surrounding volcanoes.
Criticized for its huge consumption of electricity, the cryptocurrency sector has seen the birth of several initiatives in recent years to achieve a more ecologically virtuous model.
Last year, dozens of companies united under the umbrella of the Crypto Climate Accord pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
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