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Bitcoin Energy Markets with Shaun Connell

Peter McCormack

Interview | Description | Timestamps | Show Notes

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Bitcoin Energy Markets with Shaun Connell - WBD492 Peter McCormack

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Shaun Connell is Executive VP of Power at Lancium and an energy trading expert focused on incorporating Bitcoin mining into energy transition services. In this interview, we discuss the fundamentals of energy trading, the need to balance energy supply with demand, and the symbiotic relationship between Bitcoin mining, renewables and the energy grid.

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If climate change forecasts are to be believed, the implications for society are profound. Many believe that the sources of energy that enabled our society to thrive and prosper over the past 250 years need to be replaced by alternative types of energy deemed to be more sustainable. Others fear that such a transition risks millennia of civilisational advancement.

The debate around climate change and energy is therefore highly charged. And yet, there is a significant deficit in our general understanding of how the energy system works.

Wind and solar are now the cheapest sources of energy, so why aren’t we rapidly progressing to 100% renewable energy grids? If we need to decarbonise the grid, why do wind and solar producers have to curtail energy production? If Bitcoin mining is becoming an increasingly more significant user of energy, why are grid managers increasingly seeking to assimilate it?

Whatever the reasons for the ignorance of the energy system, and whether or not it has been or will be exploited by special interests, the obvious concern is that it will lead to bad policy being formulated at a critical time. Knowledge is power.

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00:04:19: Introductions
00:04:58: Shaun's background
00:08:06: Trading energy markets
00:25:02: Winners and losers of energy price rises
00:27:18: A comparison with Bitcoin miners
00:35:04: Impacts of Bitcoin price surge
00:43:50: Managing supply and demand
00:55:40: Contingency services as insurance
00:59:34: Managing renewables and moving to zero emissions
01:10:49: Value of Bitcoin mining for demand response
01:17:19: The risk of higher reliance on renewables
01:25:58: Bitcoin mining has ultimate flexibility for demand response
01:34:19: Potential for mergers between energy companies and miners
01:39:53: Effect of BTC price drop on load balancing from miners
01:45:28: Political policymakers vs Bitcoin mining
01:49:39: Positive messages for Bitcoin mining
01:56:00: Final comments

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