Not only the State of El Salvador mines Bitcoin by government decision, but it has also been approved by the municipal administration of Borgo D’Anaunia, a city of 2,500 inhabitants, located in the province of Trento in Italy. Its mayor, Daniele Graziadei, signed a resolution in order to condition an old hydroelectric plant to provide energy to more than 40 ASIC (Integrated circuit for specific applications) generators of bitcoins (BTC).
The project, endorsed by the Municipal Council, provides for the remodeling of a century-old hydroelectric plant. The work included the adaptation of the structure, now ready to power 20 mining rigs with a power of 100 Terahash per second (TH/s) each and another 20 machines that will be for rent. All as part of a plan that required the total investment of 130,000 euros (USD 149,000).
The system built as a whole also makes it possible to identify new opportunities and technologies to strengthen the current electrical system of the “Alta Novella” hydroelectric plant with a focus on a new industrial sector.
Resolution approved by the Municipal Council of Borgo D’Anaunia.
With this initiative, the municipality will seek to generate more income and will use part of the funds generated to cover maintenance costs of the plant that was inactive from 1972 to 2006 for being unprofitable.
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All this happens at the precise moment in which hundreds of miners looking for a safe place to settle, given that the activity is condemned under various approaches in Asia.
Even the possibility of banning Bitcoin mining is on the discussion table of the European Union. As CriptoNoticias recently reported, Erik Thedén, vice president of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has requested to veto this practice to reduce the emission of CO2 (carbon dioxide) that causes the climate crisis.
For Thedéen, bitcoin mining is “inefficient” which leads to considering this type of practice as harmful to the environment. However, it is worth noting that the electricity consumption of Bitcoin is less than 1% of the global consumption.
What’s more, Bitcoin mining increasingly uses renewable energy and it is estimated that by 2030 it will be entirely green.
Following in the footsteps of El Salvador in Bitcoin mining
The regulations issued by the Municipal Council of the Italian city of Borgo D’Anaunia make it the first municipality in Italy to issue a law that supports Bitcoin mining and is one of the few public entities that promotes the activity.
In September of last year, El Salvador began mining Bitcoin with geothermal energy from its volcanoes. The Berlin geothermal power plant supplies energy to a container of mining equipment within its facilities.
In total, there are 300 operational Bitcoin miners, consuming 1 MegaWatt per hour of energy and they are just the first step the country has taken as they hope to create more geothermal-powered mining farms on some of the 170 volcanoes of El Savior.
Meanwhile, Latin America continues to emerge as one of the regions that offers the best conditions for Bitcoin mining to continue to grow and get stronger. This year the regulation of digital mining is expected in Paraguay and Brazil, countries that hope to capture the attention of miners who were forced to leave China after that country banned the activity.
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