![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
16-10-2021, 09:02 AM
By MARCOS ALEMÁN and CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
yesterday
BERLIN, El Salvador (AP) — At a geothermal power plant near El Salvador’s Tecapa volcano, 300 computers whir inside a trailer as they make complex mathematical calculations day and night verifying transactions for the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
......
Such operations ...... have been harshly criticized elsewhere in the world for the massive amounts of electricity they use and the resulting carbon footprint.
......
El Salvador’s geothermal resources — generating electricity from high-pressure steam produced by the volcano’s subterranean heat — could be a solution. But the picture in the tiny Central American country is more complicated.
......
Two years ago, China provided about three-quarters of all the electricity used for crypto mining, with operations flocking to take advantage of its cheap hydroelectric power. But the government began restricting mining and in September declared all transactions involving bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies illegal.
That has led to a scramble to set up mining operations in other countries.
......
So far, the United States has been a big winner in attracting more bitcoin mining operations
......
Bitcoin mining in El Salvador would appear to have a supportive government in Bukele, but cheap electricity is so far just a promise.
El Salvador imports about one-fifth to one-quarter of its electricity. The rest of production is divided among hydroelectric, geothermal and plants fired by fossil fuels.
Geothermal accounts for about a quarter of the country’s energy. El Salvador has 23 volcanoes.
......
Right now, El Salvador’s electricity is not considered particularly cheap.
......
Luis González, public policy director at the nongovernmental organization Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES), said if El Salvador can manage to provide cheaper, renewable power it should go to the country’s families, not cryptocurrency mining operations.
......
He also warned that advertising geothermal as clean has caveats. It is cleaner than burning fossil fuels, he said, but comes with its own impacts. The sites where wells are dug to tap into the subterranean heat impact the local habitat. He also expressed concerns that aquifers could become contaminated at geothermal sites.
......
Many bitcoin mining operations have concentrated in cooler climates too, because beyond the electricity to power the machines more is the need to keep them cool, González said. El Salvador has a tropical climate.
https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrenc...23ff65ecf5
yesterday
BERLIN, El Salvador (AP) — At a geothermal power plant near El Salvador’s Tecapa volcano, 300 computers whir inside a trailer as they make complex mathematical calculations day and night verifying transactions for the cryptocurrency bitcoin.
......
Such operations ...... have been harshly criticized elsewhere in the world for the massive amounts of electricity they use and the resulting carbon footprint.
......
El Salvador’s geothermal resources — generating electricity from high-pressure steam produced by the volcano’s subterranean heat — could be a solution. But the picture in the tiny Central American country is more complicated.
......
Two years ago, China provided about three-quarters of all the electricity used for crypto mining, with operations flocking to take advantage of its cheap hydroelectric power. But the government began restricting mining and in September declared all transactions involving bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies illegal.
That has led to a scramble to set up mining operations in other countries.
......
So far, the United States has been a big winner in attracting more bitcoin mining operations
......
Bitcoin mining in El Salvador would appear to have a supportive government in Bukele, but cheap electricity is so far just a promise.
El Salvador imports about one-fifth to one-quarter of its electricity. The rest of production is divided among hydroelectric, geothermal and plants fired by fossil fuels.
Geothermal accounts for about a quarter of the country’s energy. El Salvador has 23 volcanoes.
......
Right now, El Salvador’s electricity is not considered particularly cheap.
......
Luis González, public policy director at the nongovernmental organization Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES), said if El Salvador can manage to provide cheaper, renewable power it should go to the country’s families, not cryptocurrency mining operations.
......
He also warned that advertising geothermal as clean has caveats. It is cleaner than burning fossil fuels, he said, but comes with its own impacts. The sites where wells are dug to tap into the subterranean heat impact the local habitat. He also expressed concerns that aquifers could become contaminated at geothermal sites.
......
Many bitcoin mining operations have concentrated in cooler climates too, because beyond the electricity to power the machines more is the need to keep them cool, González said. El Salvador has a tropical climate.
https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrenc...23ff65ecf5
