Can you be green?

Trial and error of "City of Bitcoin" September 27, 14:38

Bitcoin, a representative of crypto assets.

Many people may not be familiar with it, but Texas, USA, has a lot of related businesses that are called "the city of Bitcoin".

However, there are also issues due to digital.

Since managing transactions consumes a large amount of electricity, consideration for the environment is required.

I visited Texas, where I tried and errored to transform into a green business.

(Los Angeles Branch Nana Yamada)

You can buy and sell in cash

Austin, the capital of Texas.

Rare machines were placed at convenience stores attached to gas stations and supermarkets in the town.

Originally, you can buy and sell more than 30 types of crypto assets that are traded on the Internet in cash, and it is locally called "Bitcoin ATM".

It is set up to reach more people, including those who have few opportunities to trade on the Internet and those who are skeptical of crypto assets.

When I actually put a one-dollar bill and held my smartphone over the machine, one dollar's worth of bitcoins were deposited in the "wallet" of my smartphone in less than 30 seconds.

The store manager says it won't be long before we can buy bread and drinks in the store with the crypto assets purchased from this machine.

Digital assets supported by huge amounts of electricity

It is a crypto asset that is expected to be used for shopping like dollars and yen, but the mechanism is very different because it is not managed by the country or the central bank.

Transaction data is encrypted for security and distributed and managed over networks around the world.

At each network site, a large amount of computers must be constantly running to process transaction data, which requires enormous power.

This work is called mining because it gives you a newly issued crypto asset as a reward.

Power consumption is for 20,000 households!

What kind of company does this work, which is indispensable for transactions?

I visited Winston, the largest mining company in the United States, in Rockdale, Texas.

There are three vertically long buildings on the vast site.

There were countless servers piled up to a height of 7 meters.

The sound of the server running drowned out the conversation, and the room temperature rose to 60 degrees Celsius, and I couldn't stop sweating just a little inside.

The server in this company is said to need electricity equivalent to 20,000 ordinary households.

Texas is one of the world's leading energy hubs for oil production.

The reason why all mining companies are expanding their business is because they have abundant electricity and are cheap.

Furthermore, such a movement.

The big news this month in China was that the government banned crypto-related services altogether as an illegal act, but it has long been tightening restrictions on business.

Against this background, mining companies have flowed out of China, and Texas is the recipient.

Gibson Director

"I get three or four inquiries every week from China. Companies that have expanded from China are still doing expansion work. It will also lead to investment and job creation, so It ’s a plus for the city. ”

Is it bad for the environment?

Price plummeted

As the business expanded, the focus on the issue of power consumption was triggered by a tweet from the owner, who has followers all over the world.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, an American electric vehicle manufacturer.

The proponents have announced that they will be able to buy their own electric vehicles with Bitcoin, but in May, they posted, "We recognize the future, but it must not come at the expense of the environment."

With this one word, the price of Bitcoin, which has been rising, has plummeted.

This is because there is an increased risk that a mechanism that consumes a large amount of electricity will be regarded as a problem if it goes against the flow of decarbonization.

Elon Musk himself probably thought it was a self-contradiction to be able to buy an electric car that appealed to be eco-friendly with Bitcoin as it is.

30% of electricity used is green

How can we turn it into an environmentally friendly business?

The Texas mining company we interviewed collaborates with a software company to temporarily stop processing transaction data to prevent overuse of electricity when electricity demand is tight due to the heat of summer. Was introduced.

When you are contacted by your power company, you can instantly turn off power with the touch of a button.

In fact, in August, when I visited for coverage, the local temperature rose to nearly 35 degrees Celsius.

As the number of households using air conditioners increased and electricity became tight, we stopped processing transactions from after 2:00 pm to around 6:00 pm.

Of course, if it is stopped, it will be a loss to the company, but since it is supposed to be covered by a contract with the electric power company, the damage to the business is minimized.

In addition, we are reviewing the electricity used for transactions.

In windy Texas, about 20% of the total is wind power generation, and the use of renewable energy is progressing.

The company says that 30% of the electricity used for transactions is covered by renewable energy such as wind power and solar power.

Harris CEO

"It is the responsibility of the company to use renewable energy, and we should make daily efforts to increase the ratio. At present, there is no mechanism to store renewable energy such as wind power and solar power, but 5 to 10 years later, If we can do that in the future, we will be able to increase the proportion even more. "

It depends on the company whether it can be green

However, it is not clear whether environmental consideration will spread among all mining companies.

This is because there are no restrictions on continuing mining even when electricity demand is tight, and the response is left to the discretion of each company.

Experts point out that it is up to the company to make Texas' Bitcoin business “green”.

Dr. Rose

"The most important thing is whether the company can respond with great flexibility. If the company wants, it is possible to sign a contract with a power company that provides 100% renewable energy."

Now that the movement toward the realization of a carbon-free society is spreading to various industries, the reality is that the crypto asset business cannot be irrelevant.

On the other hand, if all the related companies in Texas steer to the “green”, it has the potential to change the shape of the local energy industry.

Los Angeles bureau reporter

Nana Yamada

Joined in 2009

After working at Nagasaki bureau, economic department, international department, etc., she is currently affiliated from this summer.