Twitter debates the role of renewable energy in Bitcoin mining
It all started with a tweet by Dennis Porter, podcast host and self-described Bitcoin advocate, that led to a heady discussion about renewable energy and the role of Bitcoin miners. Porter asserted that Bitcoin (BTC) creates incentives to build out renewables, but environmental scientist Peter Gleick rebuffed the statement as a "self-serving lie."
The comments section got heated when Nic Carter, Castle Island Ventures general partner and Coin Metrics co-founder, entered the chat and called out Gleick for allegedly not knowing anything about energy.
Tell me you don’t know anything about energy without telling me
Carter proceeded to explain how energy markets work and defend cryptocurrency use in a thread of tweets. He first refuted Porter's claim that every kilowatt-hour, or KWh, of renewable energy is "already being put to use productively, and bitcoin diverts that use." He argued that Porter is wrong in saying that every unit of energy is being used, citing market reports that show negative energy prices or curtailed energy that has "no economically productive use."
He pointed readers to initiatives led by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, organization that operates most of Texas' electrical grid with an excess supply. In a presentation he gave at the Texas Blockchain Summit last year, he said that Bitcoin mining can improve the economics of renewable energy projects.
Related: Texas should use Bitcoin mining to capture wasted natural gas: Sen. Ted Cruz
According to Carter, bitcoin mining has provided wind and solar installations the ability to soak up any excess supply that cannot be sold. Any energy that tends to be wasted when the generator stops exporting to the grid or even temporarily shuts down
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