It’s a first! The Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the threatened hope of safeguarding the biodiversity it has guaranteed for almost a hundred years, has set up its own Bitcoin mining farm. Proof that the institutions of the last century are not afraid to innovate. An initiative that confuses many people. Because, at first glance, what is the relationship between cryptocurrency and environmental protection?
Cryptocurrency mining and sustainable development
First of all, they don’t mix well. Since cryptocurrency mining is an extremely energy-intensive practice, it is difficult to see how this industry can be, if not beneficial, at least consistent with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations. Researchers MJ Krause and T. Tolaymat, have estimated that, in the period that extends from January 2016 to June 2018, the mining of BTC, ETH, Litecoin and Monero tokens alone is responsible for the emission of 3 to 15 million tons of greenhouse gases ; to give you an idea, tell yourself that a country like Afghanistan emits 7.44 million tons of CO2 a year.
So how to reconcile such an energy-hungry industry with sustainable development goals?
Today, the primary solution to this dilemma is to use more renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of these computers parked in batteries and calculating constantly. While the entire mining industry cannot be reduced to simply turning astronomical amounts of fossil fuels into Bitcoin, particularly due to the many mining installations that rely on thehydroelectricboth in Canada and in China – or even in the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose example we will describe later – it must be admitted that, since its origins, mining has been a very polluting activity. However, we must not overlook the efforts made by the players in this sector on a global scale to find solutions to this problem. The data revealed in the latest Bitcoin Mining Council report goes in this direction, as it indicates that in the second half of the year 2022, the percentage of carbon-free energies in the energy mix used for Bitcoin mining has reached 59.5%. You can read there that:
(…) the sustainable energy mix of the global bitcoin mining industry is now at 59.5% or increased about 6% year-on-year, from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022, making it one of the most sustainable sectors in the world. »
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However, apart from the massive consumption of electricity, and regardless of whether it comes from fossil or renewable sources, one of the main arguments put forward by those who oppose this sector is that, from their point of view, the Bitcoin is a useless innovation. Bringing no real added value to society, they see no reason to mobilize energy resources to keep it running. A reasoning that denies the project led by the oldest African national park, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and whose existence dates back to 1925.
Virunga, an eco-social mining model
In February 2020, the curator of the Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, met the founder of Big Block Green Service, a French company that designs, manufactures and delivers eco-responsible “turnkey” mining farms. From their meeting will be born the project to use the hydroelectric energy produced by the flow of the rivers that meander in the park to power the computers that will extract Bitcoins. One winning winning projectapparently, because Big Block Green Services is only buying the excess electricity produced by the hydroelectric plants of the Virunga park which, previously, could not find a buyer.
It should also be noted that due to the almost constant conflicts in the region between various rebel groups and the country’s authorities, not to mention the harmful effects of the Ebola virus, neither this negligible 1% of the total park budget allocated by the government, Virunga’s finances were at their worst. And at that moment, Covid was just starting to declare itself. With over 40% of the park’s revenue coming from tourism, it was time to bet big; Emmanuel de Merode did it.
Although Bitcoin is not, as we have seen, associated with the conservation of biodiversity – it would rather be the opposite – Emmanuel de Merode has chosen, here, to integrate it into a broader plan that aims at that of the precious hydroelectric and territorial resources of Parco dei Virunga for the benefit of both the local populations and the correct maintenance of the park.
It was in September 2020 that the first Virunga Bitcoin was mined. And then, admits Emmanuel de Merode:
The price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed. We were lucky for once.
At the time, one BTC was worth around $10,000. Five months later, in March 2021, the king token was trading for around $44,000; this month the Virunga park has obtained about 150,000 dollars thanks to its mine, that is to say the equivalent of what it brings in tourism in the high season.
Today, the national park’s mining farm has ten shipping containers, each of which houses each other 250 and 500 machines. Three of them belong to the park, while the other seven are owned by the company of Sébastien Gouspillou.
The curator of Virunga estimates it $500,000 revenue generated by the mine in the last year. But that is not all. Through a partnership on the CyberKongz NFT project that capitalized on the popularity of non-fungible primates, the park perceived $1.2 million following the auction organized by Christie’s of Gorilla NFT.
It doesn’t matter that Bitcoin has lost 70% of its value in the last year because, in short, Emmanuel de Merode considers that:
It’s a great investment for the park. We don’t speculate on its value, we generate it. If you buy bitcoin and its value drops, you lose money. We are producing Bitcoin from excess energy and monetizing an otherwise worthless resource.
Even if Bitcoin drops to 1% of its current value, the Virunga Park mine would still be profitable. Something to think about!
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