It all started when Dennis Porter, a podcast host and self-described Bitcoin advocate, tweeted about it, which sparked a lively debate about renewable energy and the role of Bitcoin miners. According to Porter, Bitcoin (BTC) incentives encourage individuals to build out renewables; Gleick, on the other hand, disputed the statement as “a self-serving falsehood.”
When Nic Carter, Castle Island Ventures general partner and Coin Metrics co-founder, joined the conversation and accused Gleick of not understanding anything about energy, many people responded.
The article was later updated, adding a quote from Carter himself that disproved Porter’s assertion. In a series of tweets, he debunked Porter’s statement that “every kilowatt-hour” of renewable energy is “already being put to productive use.” He disputed Porter’s claim that every unit of energy is being utilized, pointing to market reports showing negative energy prices or curtailed electricity with no economically viable purpose.
He also linked readers to joint activities carried out by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, an organization that manages virtually all of Texas’ electrical network and has a surplus supply. He said Bitcoin mining may enhance renewable energy project economics in a speech he gave at the Texas Blockchain Summit last year.
According to Carter, bitcoin mining has allowed wind and solar installations to absorb any surplus energy that can’t be sold. Any energy that is normally wasted when the generator stops exporting electricity to the grid or even shuts down temporarily may be offset by mining Bitcoin. He said that, while there are concerns about grid security and costs, current evidence suggests that it is possible to build a distributed network of miners who would buy power at higher prices or during off-peak periods. He urged his critics to be tolerant of the miners who are now investigating whether or not the infrastructure is economically viable.
The thread quickly became a debate-laden free-for-all with more than 400 comments, many of them supporting both Carter and Gleick while others requested further explanations and reading material from them. “@SGBarbour,” a bitcoin miner who operates “inland sea mines” agreed with Porter that bitcoin miners “do not incentivize renewables,” but rather “they help un-sink capital in unreliable generation.” So, while Barbour acknowledged that mining is useful, he did not feel it addressed the issue that “much money has been lost installing unreliable energy sources like wind and solar,” as stated in a Substack article.
Another user, “@jyn_urso,” a climate change scientist who has recently switched to Bitcoin, praised Carter for “laying out yet another fantastic thread on how energy markets function.” According to her previous tweets, she believes that community and individual solutions such as Bitcoin mining can help accelerate the move to renewables by reducing reliance on political structures.
This debate demonstrates how Bitcoin and energy usage are commonly misunderstood. The dispute over whether Bitcoin is a beneficial use of underutilized power is yet to be proven. An increasing number of academics and climate change advocates are open to the idea that bitcoin’s electricity consumption might facilitate renewable energy development.
After Gleick highlighted their different academic degrees and expertise on energy, Carter altered his Twitter name to ‘nic no credentials carter.’ Another supporter of Carter added in to take a jab at Gleick for using his authority status as proof for the truth.
Norway is proving to be a role model for Bitcoin miners. According to a recent government study, Norway’s electricity mix is entirely renewable, allowing bitcoin miners there access to completely clean and cost-effective power, especially hydropower.
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