But there is a darker side to the technology and the industry. We must recognize and address this danger soon, or else we run the risk of undoing decades of social and environmental progress. This threat is the immense energy consumption and potential climate impact of the blockchain and its two leading currencies, bitcoin and ethereum.
While some suggest that we should seek to slow the growth of the blockchain revolution, the industry is creating so many beneficial technologies, and therefore should be encouraged to grow, in sustainable ways. New innovations in green energy should be taken advantage of.
Geothermal energy is generally considered environmentally friendly. The carbon footprint of a geothermal power plant is minimal. Their reservoirs come from natural resources and are naturally replenished, therefore it is a renewable energy source. It is excellent for the base load energy demand, as opposed to other renewables such as wind and solar.
Places like Iceland, where volcanic activity pushes that heat closer to the surface, allow us to tap into this power at an affordable rate and with almost no environmental impact. Of all the renewable energy technologies, geothermal power provides some of the most consistent power output because it doesn’t rely on unpredictable aspects of nature, like wind or sunlight.
One major drawback of Geothermal energy is that it is very location specific. Iceland and Philippines meet nearly one-third of their electricity demand with geothermal energy. Another one is that commercial geothermal power projects are expensive. Total costs usually end up somewhere between $2 – 7 million for a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 1 megawatt (MW).
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