Many renewable power companies have already started mining directly at the source when demand drops and proven this concept.
It's really a shame so many blindly follow group-think on this nuanced subject.
It's really a shame so many blindly follow group-think on this nuanced subject.
Perhaps to the National Hydropower Association knows a bit more than you: https://www.hydro.org/powerhouse/article/why-hydropower-owne...
Hmm, I wonder why a PR representative for a Cryptomining company would advocate for Cryptomining…
For someone pointing an awful lot of fingers and making a lot of extremely condescending accusations throughout this thread, I'm surprised you're offering this advice.
I work in the renewable power industry, and my father was a biologist who spent his career trying to mitigate the ecological disasters caused by my state's hydroelectric dams.
The link you've provided suggests that miners and hydroelectric providers could establish mutually beneficial economic partnerships. That hardly needs to be written; it's obvious. But I think if you polled the public on whether creating additional revenue streams for hydroelectric is a higher priority than reducing our overall energy demand -- well, do I even need to suggest what the results would be?
reducing our overall energy demand
This idea is the genesis of currency in Mesopotamia. Offsetting seasonal harvests via "tokens" that allow farmers to subsist all year. Storage alone won't solve everything.
If it's really once in a while when it's exceptionally sunny that they do it, there's no point in doing this at all because the cost (and high depreciation) of the mining rigs makes no sense if you don't run them very often.
Either way it's a bad solution to invest energy into some made-up assets, considering how bad the climate crisis already is.
I'm not against crypto per se, but proof of work really needs to die. It's a relic from a bygone worry-free era that will never come back. It will only lead to ever more energy usage. And we will not be out of the woods for a century even if we do do everything possible.
Here is a great primer: https://www.hydro.org/powerhouse/article/why-hydropower-owne...
It's comments only from someone who owns a bitcoin mine, presented as if he's a hydro power expert.