Bitcoin mining initiative in Guatemalan town cleans local lakes

The “Bitcoin Lake” circular Bitcoin economy in Guatemala uses Bitcoin ASICs to clean the adjacent Lake Atitlán and make money for the locals. In order to mine Bitcoin, the “Kaboom” mining initiative uses leftover cooking oil, as revealed by Bitcoin Lake’s founder Patrick Melder, rather than contaminating the local environment.

The endeavor, as Melder told Bitcoin Magazine, is a continuation of earlier efforts to clean the lake, which proved to be both expensive and futile. He further explained:

“Within the past five years, a major effort to clean the lake costing upwards of $300 million failed because it was so complex with so many large stakeholders who couldn’t agree on a solution.”

In contrast, Bitcoin Lake approached ecological sustainability from the ground up. It involves recycling spent cooking oil, which would otherwise be disposed of in the street or the landfill that was located above Lake Atitlán, to mine Bitcoin.

Mining used to reduce lake contamination

In any case, it would end up in the lake and watershed, according to Melder. On the other hand, while the mining operation does emit carbon dioxide, it also lessens lake contamination.

Earlier last month, Bitcoin Lake posted a video showing the project in operation. The founder stored many containers of old cooking oil, a generator, ASICs, and a laptop to monitor the hashes created all inside one tent. The generator and ASICs are both outdated, discarded types that have been given a “second life” by seed oils because they supply “nearly free energy.”

As the surrounding towns become aware of how feasible and profitable it is to clean up the environment, the initiative’s founder expects to gain popularity there.

Regulators continue to frequently express concern about Bitcoin mining’s detrimental effects on the environment in the US. However, numerous reports have described ways in which it can assist in restoring the environment, as by flaring surplus natural gas.

As TheCoinRise reported in February, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies ConocoPhilips is also working with BTC mining to reduce the wasteful process of flaring.