Bitcoin & the Energy Transition with Nima Tabatabai - WBD561

Nima Tabatabai is co-founder of Optimize Infrastructure. In
this interview, we discuss how battery technology for energy
grids, solar’s overwhelming economic case, energy
sovereignty, and how combining batteries, Bitcoin and solar
results in the most flexible energy assets possible.


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In 2010 solar power generated 34 terawatt hours (TWh) per
year across the globe. By the end of 2021, this has increased
to 1,033 TWh per year. There are a number of reasons for this
dramatic increase, but a prime driver is a reduction in
costs. Between 2009 and 2019 the price of electricity from
solar declined by 89%. The International Energy Agency in
2020 declared solar power offered the “cheapest…electricity
in history”.


As Nima Tabatabai states in this podcast, this drop in price
is perhaps the greatest example of Jeff Booth’s assertion
that technology is deflationary. Research and development of
solar technologies have been affected positively and
negatively by crises and political dogmas. Nevertheless,
since the 1970s there has been a strong ‘learning effect’
across the whole production process resulting in an
exponential reduction in costs.


Nevertheless, the discussion of solar energy as a reliable
part of the energy mix still stirs strong negative responses.
Intermittency is a major concern: solar can’t work at night,
and it’s deemed to be materially ineffective in cloudy
weather and at high latitudes. Essentially, detractors state
solar power supply can’t efficiently fit demand. There are
also issues around land requirements, input materials and
waste.


But, are these concerns valid? Can solar be a reliable and
sizeable source of energy? If so, what are the constraints
and limitations? Could battery technology resolve concerns
over intermittency? What would be needed to complement solar
energy? Are our energy grids ready to assimilate
decentralized power sources? And, what needs to be done to
maximise the potential of Bitcoin in subsidising solar?