Best Twitter threads of the day – September 8th

Bitcoin miners are uniquely flexible energy consumers that can help solve several energy problems.

One of them is strengthening increasingly fragile electricity grids

A thread on #bitcoin mining as a demand response

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

First, a short explanation of electricity grids.

In electricity grids, the demand and supply must always be matched. The ability to match these factors is called system flexibility.

Historically, we have relied mainly on the supply side to adjust itself to the expected demand.

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

One of today's biggest energy challenges is that the supply side's ability to provide system flexibility decreases as we replace controllable fossil fuels with non-controllable renewable energy like wind and solar. pic.twitter.com/8QCspt8KZv

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

IEA estimates a massive growth in non-controllable energy sources as a share of the generation mix from 11% to 42% in 2040.

How do we replace the lost system flexibility? pic.twitter.com/Y8ML7dvT7g

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

A less flexible supply side means the demand side must become more flexible. The concept of flexible energy consumers adjusting their consumption after the available demand is called demand response.

Bitcoin mining is the best alternative for demand response.

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

For an energy consumer to serve as a great demand response resource, it must have:
1) Low cost of reacting
2) Quick reaction time
3) High availability
4) High granularity

Bitcoin mining is the only energy-intensive industry checking all these boxes pic.twitter.com/ZQEAbPRTbO

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

Low cost of reacting

The cost of reacting refers to a demand response resource's costs of powering down its operations.

For bitcoin miners, the only cost of reacting is the alternative cost of not mining, giving them high economic incentives to provide demand response pic.twitter.com/7UPa9FPP3t

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

Quick reaction time

Reaction time is how fast the demand response resource can power down its operations.

Solving the SHA-256 algorithm can rapidly be
interrupted, allowing bitcoin miners to participate in demand response programs requiring the fastest reaction times.

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

High availability

Because of the stability of a bitcoin miner's load, a system operator can always rely on the bitcoin mining load to be available to provide demand response when needed.

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

High granularity

Granularity refers to how many increments the demand response resource can adjust its load.

A bitcoin miner can adjust its load in almost infinite increments and is therefore highly flexible in the amounts of electricity it can sell to the grid

— Jaran Mellerud (@JMellerud) September 8, 2022

WHITE HOUSE REPORT: CLIMATE AND ENERGY IMPLICATIONS OF CRYPTO-ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES

It’s not about climate change, it’s about complete and utter control.

Don’t give them one inch. pic.twitter.com/HA4qZSg4XM

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) September 8, 2022

Stop pandering to the ESG narrative. It’s utterly moronic.

If you don’t like how someone is using energy, pay a higher price than them.

Mining enables the buildout of baseload for the grid, and can dynamically shut off during surge demand. No other industry operates similarly.

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) September 8, 2022

Hash rate will continue to march higher.

No amount of hysteric screeching about climate change will stop the next block from being mined.

Education is good, yes, but stop pandering to their disingenuous narratives.

Pandering to communists is the real waste of energy.

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) September 8, 2022

The sides are being drawn. You are either in favor of living in a digital panopticon where every action of your life is monitored and controlled, or your not.

Money is the final boss.

If we don’t reclaim stateless money for the digital age all else is lost. #Bitcoin

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) September 8, 2022

And for the “ETH Proof of Stake is so much more environmentally friendly” crowd, we are explicitly not on the same team.

The attack vector from a narrative perspective is so extremely obvious.

Imagine attempting to attack our best shot at non-sovereign *apolitcal* money? pic.twitter.com/j0zkvwWVAU

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) September 8, 2022