Bitcoin mining is often seen as a polluting industry with unnecessarily high CO2 emissions. A village in Guatemala shows that things can be done differently. Using old bitcoin (BTC) miners and recycled cooking oil, the village is fighting pollution of a local lake.
A clean lake through bitcoin mining?
Efforts have been made for a long time to clean the Guatemalan Lake Atitlán. However, time and again this proved to be too expensive and complicated. A circular Bitcoin initiative in Guatemala, called ‘Bitcoin Lake,’ seems to have found a sustainable way after all. Bitcoin Lake founder Patrick Melder explains:
“For the past 5 years, the $300 million project to clean up the lake hasn’t been able to get off the ground. There were simply too many interest groups that could not agree on a solution.”
Bitcoin Lake took matters into its own hands and found a sustainable way to use used cooking oil to mine bitcoin. Otherwise, the cooking oil would end up on the street and eventually in the lake. Despite CO2 emissions, mining with cooking oil prevents further pollution of the lake.
Earlier this month shared Bitcoin Lake a video on twitter where the bitcoin mining setup is visible. The founders of the initiative hope to inspire similar communities. In this way, not only does the natural environment become cleaner, it also provides the community around Lake Atitlán with a source of income.
Well, I’m sure most of you have seen our viral video – but if you haven’t here it is again!@mrcdbrown3 & @A2JUN_AJPU_bits showing off our Kaboom project @BillWhittaker11
It all started with a plan https://t.co/XM6hJy1R1n#Bitcoin #Guatemala
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1/n pic.twitter.com/eN08kQslOY— Bitcoin Lake / Lago Bitcoin Guatemala 🇬🇹🍊💊⚡️ (@LakeBitcoin) September 12, 2022
More than just bitcoin mining
Worldwide, bitcoin mining is often criticized and dismissed as a polluting industry. Recently, however, more and more studies have emerged that outline ways in which bitcoin mining can positively affect the environment.
The Guatemalan initiative is inspired by Bitcoin Beach, a similar project in EL Salvador. Unlike Bitcoin Beach, Bitcoin Lake built the project from the ground up without the help of donations.
In addition to mining bitcoin and keeping the environment clean, Bitcoin Lake is committed to education. For example, children in the area have been learning about fundamental economic concepts such as inflation and the properties of money since the beginning of this year. Also, Bitcoin Lake hosts various educational events for adults, entrepreneurs and indigenous representatives.