Mining BTC With Volcanoes Is Still More Expensive Than Oil: Opinion

Mining BTC with volcanoes power is still more expensive than oil according to an El Salvador ecologist who questioned the country’s plan to mine BTC by using the geothermal energy from volcanoes as we are reading more in today’s Bitcoin news.

Ricardo Navvaro as an ecologist in El Salvador questioned the country’s decision to mine BTC using geothermal energy from volcanoes and claimed that this type of energy is still more expensive than oil:

“Geothermal still costs more than oil, otherwise we would already be using more of it. What will end up happening is that we will just be buying more oil.”

Navarro questioned the decision of President Bukele to develop infrastructure close to BTC-friendly volcanoes and he said:

 “Talking about building this city beside a volcano is like thinking you are rich because you live next to a bank.”

He added that mining BTC with volcanoes is still more expensive as it needs steam and groundwater or other water that is held underground in the soil or under rocks while the people in the country have a problem with not having enough water. The skepticism was reiterated by Marit Brommer who is an executive director of the International Geothermal Association who also questioned the many promises made by the controversial President Nayib Bukele:

“El Salvador is known for its geothermal potential. But if he is promising anything in the next six months, that would not be feasible,” adding that “it would likely take at least two or three years, and probably longer before you could generate any electricity.”

Bukele initially announced the plans to utilize volcanoes for BTC mining in June and at that time, he directed La Geo which is a state-owned electricity company to offer facilities for BTC mining with cheap, 100% clean, and renewable energy from the volcanoes. In October, the process was initiated as Bukele announced on Twitter and a month later, he announced more plans to launch a BTC city powered by volcanoes as the initial development of which would be financed by a BTC-backed bond. In the meantime, Buekle bought the dip with public money without giving any more clarity about who is in control of the country’s private keys.