The “bitcoin uses fossil fuels” argument has increasingly crumbled as new data from Bloomberg Intelligence shows that the grid is, in fact, the most sustainable energy-backed industry on the planet, with 53% of energy coming from from sustainable sources.
In response to this news, a new attack vector has emerged: “bitcoin uses too much water.” Apparently, if bitcoin uses fossil fuels as an energy source, it's bad, but if it uses hydropower, it's also bad: it's the same double bind that 17th-century witch hunters used to determine if a woman was a witch: “Throw her away.” the water”. Water. If she knows how to swim, she is a witch: execute her. If she drowns and doesn't know how to swim, that proves that she is not a witch.”
Of course, this is a ridiculous argument that can be made against any electricity user you feel like slandering. As for the method De Vries, the study's author, uses: measuring water use per transaction, Cambridge has already discredited energy use per transaction, and by extension any resource per transaction, as “not a meaningful metric.” .
This did not prevent a large number of journalists from resuming the study. As I immersed myself in the symphony of off-key journalism, I became curious: “What is the real story of bitcoin and water?”
So I decided to do a little research on the other side of the book: could bitcoin help water security?
Where is the real water shortage?
First, let's understand which nations suffer the most from water scarcity. A quick Google search told me that “12 of the world's 17 most water-scarce nations live in the Middle East or North Africa.”
of sati
Intrigued, I asked more about how these countries counteracted this water shortage.
It turns out that the situation is quite serious:
- 60% of this nation lives under “severe water stress”
- Scientists expect this to get worse as the climate warms.
- In the last 30 years, rainfall has decreased by 16.7%
- Many of these nations now use more water than they receive in the form of rain.
-Fountain Could the Middle East run out of water?CNBC
Richer countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, use desalination to solve this problem. However, desalination is expensive and energy-intensive. It also has a number of environmental problems, including the fact that in the United Arab Emirates, 78% of that energy comes from fossil fuels (natural gas).
According The national newsDesalination plants are vital for the world to have enough water to drink.
Some estimates suggest that by 2030 there will be a 40 percent gap between water supply and demand. There is an increasing dependence on desalination around the world, and already 53% of all global desalination occurs in the Middle East.
Efforts are underway to power more and more desalination plants with renewable energy, although such projects will take time. New technology will need to be developed and new solar capacity built.
Dr Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, senior lecturer at Northumbria University in the UK, who has developed a patented desalination system, confirmed this saying: “We are working to hybridise (desalination systems) with renewable energy – wind, wave and solar. We have several prototypes in the laboratory,” he said.
These solar farms can be used to offer an alternative to burning natural gas to power desalination plants. Most importantly, the United Arab Emirates plans massive solar construction in its vast, sunny deserts. solar project It will become one of the largest in the world with 5 GW in 2030.
Jaran MellerudLuxor comments that these solar installations “will no doubt periodically generate enormous amounts of excess electricity.”
How bitcoin Helps Water Scarcity #1: Accelerate Renewable Energy Desalination Development
Absorbing and purchasing excess solar-generated electricity is one of two areas where bitcoin mining can help provide solutions to water shortages.
According to Mellerud, “being interruptible and location-independent consumers of electricity, bitcoin miners can set up operations directly on these solar farms to harness and monetize this otherwise wasted electricity.” (Fountain:bitcoin-mining-around-the-world-united-arab-emirates/”> Hashrate index). A recent Cornell University study confirmed the ability of bitcoin mining to make solar operators more profitable, which in turn leads to a faster scale-up of solar operations.
By accelerating the creation of new solar energy capacity, bitcoin mining can help the UAE transition to desalination with renewable energy, meaning the UAE can meet its water security goals without jeopardizing its goals. emissions reduction.
How bitcoin Mining Helps Water Scarcity #2: Increases Desalination Efficiency
As CNBC reported, desalination consumes a lot of energy. Therefore, any efficiency increase in operating costs means that water can be desalinated for the same operating cost. This is why water management in the UAE, whether through desalination or underground aquifersIt is constantly monitored to increase the efficiency of operations.
This is where an exciting and pioneering bitcoin mining project is already underway. Marathon Digital Holdings recently partnered with Zero two.
Normally the heat is used directly for desalination. But Zero Two and Marathon realized that almost 100% of the energy used by bitcoin mining rigs is transferred to thermal energy. If that heat can be recycled, it can be reused. And that recycled heat is now used for water desalination. The only difference is that, meanwhile, the desalination facility is earning revenue from bitcoin mining, which means its water-to-dollar ratio improves: more water can be desalinated for the same net cost, an incredible achievement. Marathon CEO Fred Thiel explains that for the water desalination facility, bitcoin mining “allows them to continue generating energy profitably so they can use the heat obtained to produce desalinated water.”
Summary:
The places in the world where water is scarcer and increasingly scarce is the Middle East.
For these nations, desalination is the ideal solution, which is why 53% of all desalination currently occurs in the Middle East. However, desalination consumes a lot of energy and carbon. bitcoin mining helps address both problems. Firstly, it helps carbon intensity by making solar deployments in the Middle East more profitable by being a buyer of energy that would otherwise have been wasted. Secondly, it makes desalination plants more profitable by allowing them to generate bitcoins and use ASICS waste heat for desalination, meaning these plants can desalinate more water profitably.
Bottom line: Far from being a source of concern for global water use, bitcoin is helping the places in the world where water is most scarce ensure their water security cost-effectively without jeopardizing their emissions targets, something that no other technology can currently do.
This is a guest post by Daniel Batten. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
