Due to the fact that Crypto mining uses lots of power but only needs a small output of digital messages (ie the hash calculation results) it is an ideal candidate for an application to reside at a geothermal energy site.
The best geothermal energy opportunities are where heat from the earths core is accessible with the least amount of drilling effort.
Unfortunately many of the worlds best geo thermal heat sources are not anywhere near major population centres making it unsuitable for everyday power generation.
However crypto currency minings unique set of energy needs make it ideal for remote geothermal power locations.
In my past work with underground wireless power transmission research references were made regarding geothermal power opportunity at a location called “The Devils Marbles” in central Australia. It was said that it was one of the places in the earth where geothermal heat was at the most shallow depth.
This project is in support of exploring this claim or similar opportunities in Australia.
A short list of what you would need are:
- Near surface geothermal heat source
- A closed loop water circulation system
- Water possibly trucked in. Possibly sea water that is desalinated using geothermal energy.
- Highly automated/ low maintenance refrigeration
- Highly automated/ low maintenance computing power
- A satellite uplink for crypto mining block download and result upload.
- Ad hoc fly-in maintenance support. Ie comfortable accomodations for temp workers.
- Site setup design that allows efficient one time transport into the site, limited drilling and limited on-site setup time.
References:
See page 157 of pdf document.
http://services.ga.gov.au/gis/rest/services/OZTemp_Well_Data_Extract/MapServer/0
https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/energy/resources/geothermal-energy-resources