TL; DR Breakdown
- Iceland revokes energy allocation to new Bitcoin mining centers
- Landsvirkjun adds the aluminum industry to the list
- Iceland provides cheap energy to Bitcoin mining companies
Bitcoin mining consumes massive amounts of energy, putting a strain on power grids across nations. Although rewarding, some countries have been forced to eliminate these actors from their locations. In a bid to eliminate new Bitcoin mining centers in Iceland, the country has announced that it will no longer offer power to them to carry out their activities.
Landsvirkjun adds the aluminum industry to the list
In the full statement, the company in charge of power in Iceland, Landsvirkjun, said that it would stop providing power to some industries across the country. A further look into the statement shows that aluminum smelters are also top of the list asides from Bitcoin mining centers. A statement from one of the company officials stated that this measure was taken to combat the effects of their activities which has caused problems.
Some of the problems caused in the country include issues relating to the country’s power grid and reducing the level of the hydro reservoir. The official statement also mentioned that some of these industries seek power from neighboring countries.
Iceland has become a sought-after location due to its abundance of energy sourced from geothermal. This energy is then used to create cheap renewable energy, which the various sector of the economy can use. In the statement, the company mentioned that it would no longer accommodate any Bitcoin mining operation henceforth.
Iceland provides cheap energy to Bitcoin mining centers
Iceland boasts of housing many Bitcoin mining firms, with Hive, Genesis, and Bitfury making the top three in the list. In the last ten years, Bitcoin mining centers have always stated true to mining in an environment-friendly way. Cloud hashing was one of the first companies to enter the country in 2013, moving nothing less than 100 miners.
Hydrominer GmbH, a company based in Austria, also entered the country in 2017. Before entering the country, Hydrominer completed an ICO, which saw the company become the recipient of $2.8 million used to purchase miners. The aluminum industry has been feeling the effects of the order after the price of the metal saw a surge of about 1.1%.
Countries have started to adopt the green blockchain initiative that was discussed at the COP26 conference. At the conference, an initiative was launched where the United Citizens Organization will use blockchain to help change the climate.
