When the announcement was made that El Salvador would officially make Bitcoin legal tender, the move was considered a bold, innovative one. President Nayib Bukele took it one step further, claiming that the country would use clean geothermal energy from its numerous volcanoes to aid in mining Bitcoin as well. On October 1, 2021, Bukele tweeted the first success in this attempt: 0.00599179 bitcoin – about $269 – mined using energy harnessed from a volcano.
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— Nayib Bukele ???????? (@nayibbukele) October 1, 2021
Bitcoin mining is an incredibly high-energy process, comparable to entire countries’ worth of electric consumption! In fact, analysts have equated its energy usage to the annual carbon footprint of Argentina. The mining process is essentially the solution of complex math problems. Upon solving the algorithms, ‘miners’ are rewarded in bitcoin. The more bitcoin mined (with a finite number of 21 million), the harder the algorithms are, and the more energy is required to solve them. A simple computer cannot handle the solution, and the mining process has now evolved to using special computer equipment and massive electrical power sources to obtain the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are only growing in popularity. The issue has been how to reduce their significant carbon footprint. When El Salvador announced bitcoin as legal tender, it cited “cheap, clean” geothermal energy from its volcanoes as a potential fuel source.
First steps…
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— Nayib Bukele ???????? (@nayibbukele) September 28, 2021
The country would tap its state-owned geothermal electric company, LaGeo SA de CV, to create the “clean” plan. Less than a full month after bitcoin became legal tender in this tiny Central American country, President Bukele proudly announced the first of its many successes.
Geothermal Energy and How it Works
Geothermal energy uses the heat trapped beneath the Earth’s surface to generate electricity. Rocks, fluids, and the earth’s magma (hot molten rock) contain this heat, found as far below as the Earth’s surface. Volcanic geothermal energy involves heat generated from “supercritical water.” This high-energy source occurs when molten rock and water meet under extreme heat and pressure. The “water” from this combination is neither liquid nor gas. It carries far more energy than normal steam, providing up to 10 times the power of other geothermal sources.
Over 20 countries, including the US and Iceland, have used geothermal energy to produce electricity. Geothermal energy is a renewable, sustainable source of energy. It can provide uninterrupted electric power, making it an ideal solution for energy-intensive operations like bitcoin mining.
While Bukele has indicated that they are in the process of “testing and installing” new mining equipment, it seems that once again, El Salvador is leading the charge in innovation throughout the region.
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