Gridless: Powering Africa with Bitcoin
In most parts of Africa, only a few countries provide continuous electricity. Africa is rife with boundless forms of solar, wind, and hydro renewable energy sources but needs more infrastructure and funding. Bitcoin mining in places like Kenya helps to give millions of people that prior lived rurally without electricity a new outlook on life. Gridless Mining is taking the reliance off inefficient micro grids and is building demand for the expansion of the main electrical grid through mining for bitcoin. In this blog, we’ll discuss what gridless mining is, how Bitcoin mining is powering Africa, and capturing potential energy through the innovation of Bitcoin.
What is Gridless Mining?
Gridless Mining is a Bitcoin mining operation founded by Erik Hersman, Janet Maingi, and Phillip Walton in various parts of Africa. The ultimate goal of Gridless is to work with renewable, rural, mini-grid energy generators to monetize the full capacity of their output as a buyer of last resort, as well as serve as an anchor tenant for new energy generation creation.
All this means is Gridless creates a partnership to co-locate a bitcoin mining operation with the production point of a micro grid near a rural community. To remain efficient, any wasted energy is used to power a Bitcoin miner who turns electricity into profit. This is a game changer for rural places in Africa that gain electricity and money to keep the micro grid funded.
How Bitcoin Mining is Powering Africa?
Bitcoin mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the blockchain, and also the means through which new bitcoin are released. Anyone with access to the internet, energy, and suitable hardware can participate in Mining. The mining process involves compiling recent transactions into blocks and trying to solve a computationally difficult puzzle. The participant who first solves the puzzle gets to place the next block on top of the previous one(s) and claim newly created bitcoins.
Mining pushes the value of electricity to remote areas of Africa’s backcountry while providing the decentralization of the Bitcoin network is the end goal of Gridless Mining, which is heavily invested in Africa’s energy future. As stated on their website, “Bitcoin mining in East Africa is new and has excellent potential for profits as well as real positive impact on the communities where it is put to use. New projects are always being set up, and we’re always on the lookout for the right investment partners to work with.” To achieve these goals, Gridless has partnered with Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. and Stillmark, raising $3 million in seed investing, bringing funding to these areas with immense amounts of potential and stranded energy.
Capturing Potential Energy through the Innovation of Bitcoin
There is no denying the enormous amounts of energy Africa provides just in solar alone. “The southern African region, and the whole of Africa, has sunshine all year round. The annual 24-hour global solar radiation average is about 220 W/m2 for South Africa, compared with about 150 W/m2 for parts of the USA” Solar energy is one of many ways to power miners that in turn capture and utilize stranded energy. As the idea of Gridless Mining catches on throughout rural villages and near by countries, it will awaken a sleeping giant for the bitcoin mining ecosystem.
In conclusion, energy has become as valuable as water in places like Africa. Africa is rife with boundless forms of solar, wind, and hydro renewable energy sources but needs a solution to a lack of funding. Insert Bitcoin mining, and the continent of Africa finally has an outlet, thanks to Bitcoin. Relocating efficient micro grids and providing power like the primary electrical grid through Mining for Bitcoin is genius and innovation.