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A comment on Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day (2014). Parent comment

Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by mrb on Monday February 15, 2021 @04:32PM (#26147729)
Please realize that Argentina uses slightly more energy than a single hydroelectric power station like the Itaipu Dam (103 TWh/year).

A single dam.

So, really the comparison is more a testament of how little electricity Argentina uses.

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Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by fifilura on Monday February 15, 2021 @05:10PM (#26148179)
That is not just any "single" dam, but the world's second largest.

The largest dam in Sweden, which is my reference, a country where hydro is the biggest source of electricity, produces 2TWh/y.

(And sadly much of that energy now goes to heavily subsidized Facebook and Google servers because it is cool to have those companies in your town, and collect income tax from the 10-ish people that work there)

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Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by Symbiote on Monday February 15, 2021 @04:56PM (#26148028)
That is the second largest hydroelectric dam is the world.

Pick the Netherlands instead for the comparison, which has similar consumption to Argentina.

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Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by mrb on Monday February 15, 2021 @05:02PM (#26148090)
That is still a single dam.

A whole country could be powered by a single dam.

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Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by fifilura on Monday February 15, 2021 @05:16PM (#26148235)
The number of places where you can build a dam is limited, and when you find one it is not unlikely that you have to relocate > 1 million people to build it (Three Gorges Dam). That is on the other side of the scale you are talking about.
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Re:Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day... by mrb on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:56PM (#26162119)
The point is about making a comparison. When Bitcoin's energy consumption is equaled to that of a single dam, it just doesn't seem that impressive.
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