1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,840 Bitcoin mines need power to run. Even small mines can run profitably if the power is cheap. 2 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:12,240 And in this case, the power is free from unexploited renewable resources. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:20,400 Greetings and salutations, my fellow plebs. My name is Walker and this is the Bitcoin podcast. 4 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:28,000 It's Saturday, September 30, 2023. The Bitcoin block height is 81058, 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,480 and the value of one Bitcoin is still one Bitcoin. Today's episode is a Bitcoin out loud read. 6 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:40,720 On yesterday's Bitcoin news roundup, I read a snippet from an article published on MSN.com, 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:46,720 titled, The Surprising Simple Answer to Africa's Rural Energy Problems, Bitcoin Mining. 8 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:52,560 I decided that this article is actually worth reading out loud for you in full, not only because 9 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:57,760 it's a solid article that articulates the benefit of Bitcoin mining in Africa very well, 10 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:03,600 but also because it was published on a legacy media site. I'm glad we're seeing the Overton 11 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:09,200 window for Bitcoin mining shift, as more people realize they may have been misled by the anti 12 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,800 Bitcoin propaganda of the New York Times, Greenpeace, and Digiconomists to name a few. 13 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,280 You can find all the links and accounts mentioned in this episode via the article 14 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:25,360 version of this show linked in the show notes or by going to BitcoinPodcast.net slash words. 15 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:31,120 And of course, you can always watch the Bitcoin podcast on Rumble or YouTube, 16 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,560 or listen on fountain.fm or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do listen on Fountain, 17 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,800 consider giving this show a boost or creating a clip of something you found interesting. 18 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,600 For those that have boosted this show already, or zap me on Noster, thank you very much. 19 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,400 Moving forward, I'll accept questions, topics, or general funny comments from the top boosts 20 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:55,600 I receive on fountain. And if you haven't checked out found yet, I highly recommend it. 21 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:00,560 You can send Bitcoin to your favorite podcasters who you find valuable and also earn Bitcoin just 22 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:06,960 for listening. Without further ado, let's get into today's Bitcoin Out Loud Read. It's titled 23 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,440 The Surprising Simple Answer to Africa's Rural Energy Problems. 24 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,560 Bitcoin Mining by Steven Sidley 25 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:21,920 Small Bitcoin mines can be immediately profitable and can therefore fund a renewable 26 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:28,000 mini grid and supply power to the community at no cost. And if this seems too good to be true, 27 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:33,760 it gets even better. First, some numbers. And they are pretty shocking. According to the 28 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:41,280 International Energy Agency, 600 million Africans, 43% have no access to electricity. 29 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:48,320 Neither are they likely to get access to electricity. Why? Because it is expensive to erect pylons, 30 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:54,000 string cable, and build substations to distribute electricity to small communities or villages in 31 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,760 the far flung areas. The CAPEX costs overwhelm the return, especially given the light demand 32 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,360 in areas without industrial activity of any kind. This means that the only way to electrify those 33 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:11,440 areas is with mini grids powered by renewables, usually between 20 kilowatt and one megawatt, 34 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,480 depending on the size of the community. But here too are many challenges. A recent paper 35 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,280 by the Green Africa Mining Alliance lays out the scale of the task. Quote, 36 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:30,800 The number of mini grids in Africa needs to grow from 3,100 in 2021 to 160,000 in 2030, 37 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:37,200 more than 50 times over nine years, with a cumulative investment of $91 billion by 2030. 38 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:43,680 If the current pace of mini grid development continues, only about 44,800 mini grids will be 39 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:49,520 installed by 2030, serving only around 80 million people in Africa. We first have to recognize some 40 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:54,800 of the economic peculiarities of renewable mini grids in rural areas. One is that community demand 41 00:03:54,800 --> 00:04:01,120 peaks from six to 9pm when the sun goes down. So the grid has to be overbuilt to handle that 42 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:06,240 critical period. While consumption is likely to grow over time, as energy consuming businesses 43 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:11,520 start to cluster around the available energy, the initial period of the build and deployment 44 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:17,760 is at the apex of financial risk, with high upfront costs to satisfy community peak demand, 45 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:23,440 and then a long and unpredictable wait for new business customers to come onto the grid and 46 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:31,440 pay for it. Commercially minded investors take one look at this equation and quietly leave the room. 47 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:37,680 This means that the only way to electrify these underserved communities is to rely on development 48 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:44,080 slash aid institutions or governmental universal access programs to fund renewable powered mini 49 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:51,040 grids. But sadly, most governments in Africa do not have the fiscous nor will nor execution capacity. 50 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:58,080 Most development institutions are both stretched across many demands and extremely slow to move 51 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:05,120 from aspiration to funding. Worse, they are often subject to the whims of politics. In short, 52 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:10,080 whatever help is coming to these communities is nothing more than a dribble, consigning hundreds 53 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:15,680 of millions to lives of exclusion. It is no surprise that many of the mini grid initiatives 54 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:24,400 promised on paper for decades have simply withered on the vine. An answer. There is a solution to all 55 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:30,320 of this and the calculus is simple. The first piece of the calculus is that rural communities 56 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:36,480 are often close to rivers, a critical natural resource for poor, underserved, underemployed, 57 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:42,720 and mainly subsistence communities. Additionally, Africa benefits from an abundance of sunlight over 58 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:49,120 most of the continent. Two rich renewable energy resources almost entirely stranded and unused, 59 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:56,160 solar and hydro. The critical second item of the calculus is the lack of an anchor tenant 60 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:03,120 who will buy electricity reliably and hungrily, such as a large industrial plant. Sadly, such 61 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:09,280 businesses have no reason to come to these places. So what is going to use the stranded renewable 62 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:14,960 energy and happily pay for the renewable mini grids from flowing water and abundant sunlight 63 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,840 powering up surrounding structures with lights and TVs and ovens and chargers? 64 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:26,640 Bitcoin mines. That's what Bitcoin mines need power to run. Even small mines can run profitably 65 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:34,400 if the power is cheap. And in this case, the power is free from unexploited renewable resources. 66 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,880 A single container of computers running Bitcoin mining software can be profitable 67 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:44,240 because the only real cost is electricity. The other costs, the machines, the air conditioning, 68 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:49,760 the cables, the solar panels or water turbines are negligible by comparison. Small Bitcoin 69 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:55,280 mines can be immediately profitable and can therefore fund a renewable mini grid and supply 70 00:06:55,280 --> 00:07:00,960 power to the community at no cost. And if this seems too good to be true, it gets even better. 71 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,760 The Bitcoin mines can reduce their consumption at the flick of a remote switch, 72 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:12,000 making them perfect load balancers for the 6 to 9 p.m. spike or any other reason. 73 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:18,720 Why does this seem like magic? Because stranded energy demand requires the transport of power 74 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:25,840 to population centers to find a consumption market, both citizens and industry. It is they who pay for 75 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:31,760 the electricity which funds generation and distribution. This is the way it works, even 76 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:37,840 for big renewable projects. Their electrons end up mainly flowing to the population centers. 77 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:43,680 But Bitcoin mines are happy to churn away, far from cities and towns, quietly securing 78 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:49,600 crypto transactions and producing revenue. Bitcoin mines are unlike any other industry. 79 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:55,520 They can live anywhere. And if the energy is stranded, uncontested and free, you have a 80 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:02,240 perfect marriage where everyone benefits. The community, the investors, even the Bitcoin bros. 81 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,760 Unlike any other buyer of electricity, Bitcoin mines are a buyer of first resort 82 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:12,000 when no one else is buying, a buyer of last resort when there is no other demand, 83 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:19,360 and a grid balancer of last resort keeping the grid stable at all times. No other energy consuming 84 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:25,120 enterprise has this profile. Bitcoin mines have been slowly moving into this space, 85 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:31,680 with multiple projects underway with companies like Bitcoin Lake in Rwanda and Gridless in Nigeria. 86 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:38,320 It can only accelerate. They are extremely fast to set up and face fewer regulatory hurdles than 87 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:43,840 larger renewable initiatives which feed into the national grid. This is a delicious irony, 88 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:49,760 given the number of furious and outraged column inches dedicated to Bitcoin's energy usage over 89 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:56,160 the past couple of years, when in fact, it is likely to be part of the solution for the rural poor, 90 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,800 excluded and energy deprived. 91 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:10,800 And that's a wrap on this Bitcoin Out Loud episode of the Bitcoin Podcast. If you are a 92 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:17,520 Bitcoin only company interested in sponsoring another fucking Bitcoin podcast, head to bitcoinpodcast.net. 93 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:25,040 You can find me on Noster by going to primal.net.com. If you want to follow the Bitcoin podcast on 94 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:31,360 Twitter, go to at-titcoin podcast and at-walkeramerica. You can also find the video version of this 95 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:37,680 podcast at youtube.com.com.com. And at-walkeramerica.com on Rumble. 96 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:44,560 Bitcoin is scarce. There will only ever be 21 million, but Bitcoin podcasts are abundant. 97 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:50,800 So thank you for spending your scarce time to listen to another fucking Bitcoin podcast. 98 00:09:50,800 --> 00:10:14,800 Until next time, stay free.