Can cryptocurrency mining be eco-friendly and profitable at the same time? Electrominer is convinced that “yes, it can”. The Blockchain project located in Lake Forest, Southern California is planning to make mining sustainable and profitable at the same time.
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The PoW (Proof of Work) mining sector has evolved in a short time from a hobby performed on personal computers into a capital-intensive professional industry with its own value chain. However, the environmental impact of PoW algorithm on the environment becomes more troubling and crucial. For example, 1BTC transaction requires the same amount of energy as to power 9 US homes for one day[1]. As a reference, it is also estimated that Bitcoin alone currently consumes about 10.41 TWh per year, which is close to the yearly energy consumption of Uruguay, a country with 3.3 million inhabitants[2] and it keeps increasing. So, can you imagine what carbon footprint of Blockchain is? It is estimated that carbon footprint of mining 3 BTC equals one hour of flying Boeing 747–400 with all the seats taken[3]. As a result, rising Bitcoin price is driving up mining capacity, concurrently electricity consumption and amount of CO2 emissions. While different industries and companies like Tesla, Samsung SDI, Solar City are trying to save the future of the Planet’s ecosystem, Blockchain Industry makes it worse every day.
Preliminary Electrominer data center design
Electrominer Project which is created by Blockchain enthusiasts and professionals in different industries intends to solve this problem by powering its mining facilities solely by clean, renewable energy. It will locate 60 mobile data center units in Imperial County, California, which is a perfect place for using solar panels as there are more than 300 sunny days per year. Electrominer facilities will provide 10 megawatts of mining capacity. Therefore, data centers are based on shipping containers which make them sustainable and easy to transport.
All in all, Electrominer will solve the problem with CO2 emissions. However, how is it going to stay profitable when solar energy and solar panel installation is so costly? Electrominer Platform will provide its users with an ability to choose any coin on any algorithm to mine will significantly affect their profit and decrease risks rather than when users have a 2-year long attachment to a single coin/algorithm. Unlimited adjustable contracts and the opportunity to swap between algorithms will attract more Blockchain enthusiasts to the project. Therefore, Electrominer is planning to gradually increase the amount of solar energy it uses for powering data centers, which will help to increase mining capacity through time.
Overall, the success of this project will mean a big step into eco-friendly future of crypto-mining industry with an expandable and self-sufficient mechanism driven by community.
Electrominer website: http://electrominer.io
Electrominer Telegram: http://t.me/electrominer
[2] Hileman, Dr Garrick and Rauchs, Michel, 2017 Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study (April 6, 2017).
[3] https://digiconomist.net/deep-dive-real-world-bitcoin-mine