Twitter’s Jack Dorsey teams up with Blockstream to build a solar-driven Bitcoin mining facility

Amid growing concerns for Bitcoin’s high energy consumption rates, Blockstream and Square have teamed up to build a Bitcoin mining facility that is driven by solar energy.

The initiative is being championed by Blockstream’s CEO, Adam Back, and Square’s founder, Jack Dorsey. The Bitcoin mining facility will be built on a Blockstream mining site in the United States. Both parties will share details on the project’s economics, as well as their experience in the development of the facility.

The project hopes to demonstrate the possibility that Bitcoin mining and renewable energy can fuel a transition towards clean energy. The Proof-of-Concept will demonstrate that Bitcoin can be mined at scale with renewable energy. The CIO and head of Mining at Blockstream noted:

Many mining operations throughout the world, including our own, already rely on renewable energy because it is the most cost-effective power available. Together with Square, we hope that the open and transparent nature of the project will become a model that other businesses can learn from.

While Square will invest $5 million in the initiative, Blockstream will provide the infrastructure and expertise to build the project.

A transition to renewable energy?

Bitcoin came under a lot of fire in May for its high energy usage. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk triggered a market sell-off when he announced that his vehicle manufacturing company would no longer accept payments in the leading digital asset, citing environmental concerns.

Iran has also moved to suspend Bitcoin mining activities until September 22 after blaming crypto mining for a series of blackouts across major cities.

The collaboration between Blockstream and Square couldn’t have come at a better time. Once built, the Bitcoin mining facility will allow other industry participants to expand their operations. It will be designed to be scalable.

Neil Jorgensen, Global ESG Lead at Square, expressed his excitement over the partnership. He said:

The project will serve as an ongoing, transparent case study that will allow us to all learn together the specific unit economics of clean energy Bitcoin mining. We can’t wait to start sharing our results with the community.

Speaking of transparency, Blockstream will provide regular updates on the progress of the project. There will also be a publicly available dashboard displaying real-time metrics on the Bitcoin mine’s performance. The dashboard will be based on Blockstream Mining Note (BMN).