Tuesday, July 13th 2021
Crypto Goes Nuclear: Pennsylvania and Ohio to be Home to Nuclear-Powered Cryptomining
Crypto is going nuclear in the not so distant future, as US company Talen Energy revealed plans to construct a cryptomining data center in the immediate vicinity of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Pennsylvania. Initial power consumption of the installation is expected to settle around 164 MW, with that figure climbing up to 300 MW once the infrastructure is complete - powered by dual 1+GW nuclear units and two independent substations. Talen Energy estimates maximum on-site power in the order of 1 GW.
The idea is to begin a narrative reversal around the environmental cost of cryptocurrency mining - if power is provided by cleaner technology, cryptocurrency mining's carbon footprint is bound to be reduced, in turn increasing attractiveness for environmentally-conscious businesses. Elon Musk, for one, made waves in both news outlets and cryptocurrency markets (and value) when he announced the decision for Tesla to cancel acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing environmental concerns regarding power sources keeping Bitcoin's blockchain secure. Another company, Energy Harbor Corp, announced a five-year collaboration with Standard Power to power its Bitcoin blockchain mining center in Coshocton, Ohio, starting December this year.
Love it or hate it, blockchain technology is going nowhere - it's one of the most important, fundamental and transformational technologies in recent decades. much like nuclear power (and nuclear weapons, for that matter) weren't loved by everyone at the technologies' introduction (and still aren't loved by everyone), so does the future contemplate blockchain technology irrespective of our own personal opinion on the matter. It was only a matter of time before crypto went nuclear - and for a technology that consumes more power than several countries combined, the change to more sustainable, less carbon-.intensive technologies surely is a welcome one.
Source:
TechSpot
The idea is to begin a narrative reversal around the environmental cost of cryptocurrency mining - if power is provided by cleaner technology, cryptocurrency mining's carbon footprint is bound to be reduced, in turn increasing attractiveness for environmentally-conscious businesses. Elon Musk, for one, made waves in both news outlets and cryptocurrency markets (and value) when he announced the decision for Tesla to cancel acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing environmental concerns regarding power sources keeping Bitcoin's blockchain secure. Another company, Energy Harbor Corp, announced a five-year collaboration with Standard Power to power its Bitcoin blockchain mining center in Coshocton, Ohio, starting December this year.
101 Comments on Crypto Goes Nuclear: Pennsylvania and Ohio to be Home to Nuclear-Powered Cryptomining
whywhile you guys are doing it right?No bitcoin mining is a huge cash cow I've been bitcoin mining for 10 years now
To produce some PoW that can be stored on a Floppy disk for a lifetime of mining, you need :
- Build a Nuclear reactor
- Mine Uranium (so green)
- Use centrifuges to have U-235 (even greener)
- Properly dispose of nuclear waste (yeah)
- Build hundred of thousands of ASIC chip (we all know it's a green industry)
- Build the system around
- Have people come and go every day to maintain it operable
- Change pieces regularly because technology is going really fast
Seriously, how can you sell that this thing is somehow ecological ?It maybe less terrifying than running on coal, but you need to remember that you need a 1000$ chip + 200W during a year to have 1500$.
Is mining 1 ETH greener than 15 one-hundred dollar bills? I don't think so. Coin idea is great. Coin actual state is totally broken.
I don't even speak of the whole paying side hardware needed (NFC chips, servers, blockchain validation which is super heavy load, etc.)
Coin are not stable yet. When you see a coin get *30 in value under 2 month, you can't say it's viable option, whatever the reasons are.
Honestly, I doubt even 1/3rd is used for actual mining.
This is where crypto "big money" is actually ideally set up to help us.
Personally, I think it's great. The more current-generation reactors the better for everyone - country I was born in is still around 95% coal and gas, with all the great things burning coal and gas brings, like cancer caused by atmospheric pollution, CO2 emissions and such. The whole country looks like a damn red blob on a global pollution map which even I, a radical and antisocial misanthrope, think is a horrible irresponsibility on a large scale.
Also, to clarify: It's almost impossible to build a powerful energy source for a singular energy sink, the balancing of such system would be really risky, as they say, "on knife's edge". That's why the electrical grid is a marvel of engineering and a highly underrated step in enabling technological and social progress.
There are nations where having electricity for 24/7 is a luxury :( and there are other nations where we build Neuclear Power Plant for Crypto mining.
I have mixed feeling when it comes energy produced by Nuclear Power Plants. One one-hand it is better than using fossil fuel that is causing our climate to change but on the other hand it reminds me how dangerous it could be when one thinks about incidents like Fukushima:
m.dw.com/en/japan-fukushima-nuclear-disaster/a-56825937
... because of
greengreed, of course