A controversial bill to ban Bitcoin mining in Norway was rejected by a majority in Parliament this week.
Norway, which accounts for almost 1% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, has rejected a proposed law that sought to ban Bitcoin mining.
The proposal, which was submitted in March this year, argued that Bitcoin mining is an activity that requires a high amount of energy to sustain itself. The bill also cited that, with the current energy situation in Europe, devoting a large amount of energy to this activity to extract cryptocurrencies on the network was an irresponsible waste.
However, despite their arguments, the proposal was met with rejection by the Norwegian Parliament. According to reports, only two parties voted in favor of its approval, while the rest, representing the majority, were against it. The rejection of this proposed law shows the importance that this activity of the crypto industry has gained in the country and in the world.
In Norway, almost 100% of Bitcoin mining is supported by renewable energy sources.
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Alejandro de la Torre, founder of Proofofwork.energy and former vice president of mining group Poolin, commented on his Twitter account on the Norwegian parliament's rejection of the ban on Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin mining in Norway
In a shared post On Twitter, Arcane Research analyst Jaran Mellerud noted that Bitcoin miners now have an outsized presence in Norway, considering its geographic size and low population.
Mellerud's analysis reveals that Bitcoin miners are present in almost all of Norway. In his report, Mellerud highlighted the crypto mining facilities that are currently active in the country.
Source: Jaran Mellerud.
As can be seen, Norway is home to several mining companies that are dedicated to extracting bitcoins on the network on a local and industrial scale. Among the local crypto miners, the Arcane analyst highlighted the companies Kryptovault and Arcane Green Data, which in addition to mining bitcoins are also breaking the myths that exist about this important activity.
Kryptovault is one of the Bitcoin mining companies that is sustaining its operations on the blockchain network with renewable energy, breaking the myths and paradigms about the environmental unsustainability and carbon footprint of cryptocurrencies.
Considering the conditions in the country, Mellerud said that almost 100% of the bitcoin mining operations carried out by crypto mining companies in Norway are supported by clean energy sources, such as hydroelectric and wind power; which, in addition to being environmentally friendly, are also cheap and reliable sources of energy.
Bitcoin heat promotes sustainable forestry
One of the sustainable initiatives that is coming to life in Norway is the support of forestry with the heat of Bitcoin.
In the cryptocurrency industry, it's well known that bitcoin mining equipment generates a lot of heat. But in Norway, the company Kryptovault is using this released heat to help a local company speed up the wood drying process.
Alex Gladstein, CEO of the Human Rights Foundation, who visited the KryptoVault facility, said that with the heat from Bitcoin miners, it takes the company only 4 days to dry a significant amount of wood, which with the normal sun-drying process would take 2 to 3 months.
In other parts of the world, Bitcoin miners also use the heat released by their mining equipment to positively contribute to other activities, such as heating homes.
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