South Australia has launched its first solar-powered cryptocurrency mining hub in South Australia's Iron City, marking Australia's transition to a green blockchain footprint.
The five-megawatt (MW) plant operated by Lumos Digital Mining Company for the power-hungry cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been heavily criticized for its resource-intensive mining method.
Nick Champion, Secretary of State for Trade and Investment, said the fact that the plant could be powered by solar energy shows that bitcoin production can be environmentally friendly.
"This is important to clean up blockchain, which is a very energy-intensive industry," he said.
In addition, Lumos plans to introduce new water cooling technologies and open a second 10 MW mining complex in Havala within a year.
"Sustainable energy sources".Commenting on the launch of the new mining hub, Lumo CEO Dong Wan said: “Our aim is to build Australia's best-known renewable energy business using sustainable energy.
“There is a rapid increase in demand for digital mining in Europe and America.
"We came to South Australia because it has traditionally been a strong supporter of new technology and digital innovation, and because the state is rich in renewable energy production."
The process of energy starvationAccording to a recent report from the White House Office of Science and Technology, US cryptocurrency production alone accounts for 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
With so many computers working on solving complex blockchain equations, Bitcoin's energy consumption is becoming a problem for Australia.
Thanks to COP26 and the global energy revolution, energy consumption is not just microscopic.
According to Angelo Condylas of Lumos, the facility could produce 100 bitcoins per year as an energy source.
However, Kondylas also said the company could sell the energy it produces to others who want to use blockchain technology.
Although the plant is primarily solar-powered, Kondylas said it can increase output to draw more power from the grid during peak power generation.