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To promote the use of clean energy in crypto, the bitcoin (BTC) mining company Terrawulf has put its name in the history books as one of the first builders of a nuclear-powered nuclear mining facility in the U.S.
Terrawulf to use clean energy for mining operations
Maryland-based zero-carbon bitcoin mining company, Terrawulf has launched its nuclear-powered bitcoin mining hub in Pennsylvania, USA. The mining facility called Nautilus is the first bitcoin mining facility in the country run on nuclear energy.
First announced in 2021, the Nautilus Cryptomine facility currently houses about 8,000 mining rigs, which produce a computing power, or hash rate, of about 1.0 exahash per second (EH/s).
According to Terawulf, the development signals the crypto sector’s shift from energy sources that are harmful to the environment to a much cleaner and safer source of energy.
Bitcoin mining uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to validate transactions and secure the network.
Consequently, an enormous amount of computing power is required which leads to the use of astronomical amounts of electrical energy, most of which is gotten from the burning of fossil fuel.
Bitcoin currently consumes around 117 terawatt hours a year, more than some European countries. Terawulf aims to cut down on the harmful emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as a result of mining operations.
The company also stated that it plans to ramp up operations in the near future by adding another 8,000 mining rigs to increase its capacity to 1.9EH/s before the end of Q1 and 5.5EH/s before the end of the second quarter.
The crypto mining sector has long been criticized for its energy usage and its effect on the environment. This has led to more research and investments directed towards creating cleaner and more efficient alternative energy sources.
In a Feb. 19 report on Bitcoin Magazine, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analyst Daniel Batten, believes that 52% of bitcoin mining energy sources are from green and renewable energy.