Bitcoin could support renewable energy development

A similar concept I like is bitcoin mining as a pioneer species.<p>The amount of infrastructure necessary to drop in a bitcoin mine with a satellite uplink in a very remote area that happens to have an untapped energy source is very small and finely scalable. This could be a valuable tool to prove out the economic viability of novel energy capture tech and&#x2F;or locations without huge upfront costs. And the revenue flow itself justifies gradual expansion and scaling. Eventually other industries and people can be drawn into these burgeoning energy oases, further spurring growth.<p>More on that here. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;medium.com&#x2F;the-bitcoin-times&#x2F;bitcoin-is-a-pioneer-species-38f42ecdbb88" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;medium.com&#x2F;the-bitcoin-times&#x2F;bitcoin-is-a-pioneer-sp...</a>

It&#x27;s no coincidence that bitcoin mines sprout up anywhere that is saturated with cheap, renewable energy. Most often around hydro plants where the cheap power can be used that would have just been wasted anyway. These extra funds make renewable power much more economical.<p>No one wants to mine anywhere that energy costs more than 5c per kwh, and basically any populated area where demand is present the prices are going to be somewhere between 10-20c per kwh.

It already does in Africa. Bitcoin mining makes hydro plants profitable, and locals get power. Gridless does this.

Is our goal to increase renewable capacity, or decrease CO2 output?<p>Using new renewable capacity to offset new PoW obviously has no effect on existing emissions.

It does seem like a pretty cool thing that any excess electricity can be turned into money very trivially but I don&#x27;t understand why this argument wouldn&#x27;t also mean &quot;Bitcoin could support coal energy development&quot;. Like, the technique described in the article of mining while a project is coming online would be true of every energy source right?

When the grid can’t take more electricity, redirect to mining. It’s very obvious solution. What other type of activity can convert wasted electricity into money at a variable rate directly proportional to how much is available, with very fast turn on and shut down cycles?