Powering Africa with Bitcoin Mining with Erik Hersman & Marshall Long

“There’s a new way to think about this as a new paradigm for energy in Africa, you bundle the mini-grids and the Bitcoin mining together, and you get your return on investment in seven years instead of 20, or, if ever because they weren’t sustainable.”— Erik HersmanErik Hersman is the co-founder of Gridless, & Marshall Long is the Head of Architecture for Rhodium Enterprises. In this interview, we discuss Bitcoin in Africa: the need, the use and the support the wider community can give. We also talk about energy poverty in Africa, Bitcoin’s role in supporting mini-grids, and how Gridless’s business model & Marshall’s financing plan accelerate this process.- - - - There are around 800 million people in the world without access to electricity. Around 75`% of those live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Given populations are distributed over vast areas in Africa, and governments have limited access to capital, grid connections can be economically unviable. But mini-grids are also challenging because of the difficulty of getting a return on the high initial investment costs: demand in these poor communities takes time to build. To date, the only option has been well-meaning but unsustainable charitable ventures that can have unintended negative second-order effects. But then Bitcoin mining showed how curtailed energy can be monetised, and a problem has suddenly become an opportunity. It is estimated Africa could produce 2.5 million terawatt hours of wind and solar energy per year (the US uses around 4,000 terawatt hours of energy per year). The business opportunity is huge.In the fascinating interview, Eric Hesman of Gridless discusses how his company is partnering with communities in need of energy to provide subsidised power. Marshall Long sets out how his family office is helping with much-needed finance for energy projects in Africa that utilise Bitcoin mining. Together they set out the transformational impact such initiatives could have for the continent. - - - - This episode’s sponsors:Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably Ledn - Financial services for Bitcoin hodlersBitcasino - The Future of Gaming is hereLedger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletWasabi Wallet - Privacy by defaultUnchained - Secure your bitcoin with confidence-----WBD675 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.