Greta Thunberg appears to have realised all of the ways that Bitcoin can be good for the renewable energy industry… or so a Tweet would have us believe. It seems that the video showing Thunberg recommending Bitcoin as a way out of a climate crisis was not legit. It was a deepfake made using an AI.
The deepfake was made from an original video that had absolutely nothing to do with Bitcoin!
What about the claims in the Bitcoin deepfake?
As it turns out though, the claims made in the deepfake could be true. There is a lot of new thought around how Bitcoin mining could be pushing a green agenda.
Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of energy, which in the past has raised concerns about its environmental impact.
But what if Bitcoin could actually help the environment, rather than harm it? That is the idea behind a study by researchers from Cornell University. They argue that Bitcoin mining could be a catalyst for the transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
The study explains that renewable energy is often wasted or curtailed when there is more supply than demand. For example, when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, but people are not using much electricity. This is a problem for the grid, as it needs to balance the supply and demand of electricity at all times.
The researchers suggest that Bitcoin mining could solve this problem by acting as a flexible load that can adjust to the fluctuations of renewable energy. By mining Bitcoin when there is excess renewable energy, and reducing mining when there is a shortage, Bitcoin miners can increase their profits and reduce their carbon footprint. They can also help the grid by providing stability and reliability.
Bitcoin mining could be green
The study estimates that Bitcoin mining could earn hundreds of millions of dollars by using excess renewable energy, and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by millions of tonnes. This would make renewable energy projects more attractive and feasible, and accelerate the adoption of clean energy sources.
Of course, this is not a perfect solution. Bitcoin mining still consumes a lot of electricity, and not all of it comes from renewable sources.
However, the study shows that Bitcoin is not necessarily a villain for the environment, but rather a potential ally.
What about the Greta Thunberg deepfake?
While the message in the deepfake is interesting, it could get the creator into legal trouble.
While Thunberg probably won’t sue the creators of the deepfake, if they ever find them, she would have laws behind her to do so if she wanted to, at least here in Australia, anyway.
Sydney-based White Knight Lawyers said there is already protection against deepfakes, using existing laws that exist around defamation.
“The tort of defamation may provide some recourse for a victim of a deepfake. Deepfake creators can maliciously create deepfake content falsely depicting victims in compromising situations, defaming the reputation of the victim by making various defamatory imputations.
“The victim of the deepfake may have a claim against anyone involved in the publication of the deepfake to compensate for the damage to the victim’s reputation.”
