El Salvador’s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro believes that
mining bitcoin with a volcano, or geothermal energy, will “end in
environmental disaster.” Navarro believes geothermal energy costs more
than oil, and thinks El Salvador’s millennial president Nayib Bukele’s
decision is questionable.
Salvadoran ecologist Ricardo Navarro Questions His Country’s Volcano-Powered Bitcoin City Venture
During the second week of June, El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele told the public that the Latin American country planned to mine bitcoin (BTC) with energy stemming from volcanoes located in the country. At the end of September, Bukele shared a video
of the initial construction of the Salvadoran volcano-powered bitcoin
mining facility. Now the president and his government have been
criticized by El Salvador’s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro.
Salvador’s leading ecologist Ricardo Navarro, an environmentalist who
believes Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s recent bitcoin concepts are
questionable.
The Salvadoran ecologist explained
to Telegraph contributor Simeon Tegel that developing a ‘Bitcoin City’
next to a volcano doesn’t make sense. “Talking about building this city
beside a volcano is like thinking you are rich because you live next to a
bank,” Navarro said. Navarro also detailed that geothermal energy is
still a costly endeavor and won’t be much better than using petroleum
sources. Navarro insists:
Geothermal still costs more than oil, otherwise we
would already be using more of it. What will end up happening is that we
will just be buying more oil.
Navarro Insists ‘Bukele Doesn’t Really Understand What Is Going on With the Energy Situation’
Navarro is concerned
about the consequences of the world’s so-called climate crisis. The
ecologist runs a non-governmental organization CESTA (Salvadoran Center
for Appropriate Technology) and he recently discussed the subject with Politico’s contributing author, Bjarke Smith-Meyer, on November 10.
At that time, Navarro dismissed the volcano-powered bitcoin mining
facility idea as he wholeheartedly believes the facility will require
more energy resources than just geothermal power. “I am under the
impression that Bukele doesn’t really understand what is going on [with]
the energy situation,” Navarro told the reporter. “That is certainly
going to complicate… demand.”
Navarro also claims that the digital currency environment in El
Salvador could attract drug lords. The Salvadoran ecologist says that
the bitcoin tender law was rushed and implemented without debate. “If
you have something good to promote, you propose it, you discuss it, and
then you put your arguments. But that was not the case with bitcoin,”
Navarro stressed to Smith-Meyer.
