Small rocks, big power

We got him. Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas after the US charged the FTX Founder with wire fraud.

We got him. Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas after the US charged the FTX Founder with wire fraud. SBF will finally get to experience the crypto utopia of his dreams. A world where the US dollar has been surpassed by new currencies – cigarettes and other things I can't list here.

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Credit: REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Mining companies curb emissions with tech

It might be surprising to read that comminution, a process you may have never heard of, consumes 4-5% of the world’s electricity. This is a lot. For comparison, Bitcoin, often demonized for the energy required to run the network, uses roughly 0.55% – or 8 times less.

What is comminution? Well, it’s basically making larger rocks into smaller rocks by crushing, grinding, vibrating, or otherwise processing them. It is an early, necessary step taken to separate and increase the surface area of mined ore before further mineral processing can produce a finished product.

Even very small improvements in the efficiency of comminution can lead to very large savings for mining companies. For this reason, Australian mining giant BHP has invested in French startup I-Rox ($) which says it can reduce the power required for comminution. The startup is aiming to commercialize the use of high-voltage pulses of power to disintegrate rock.

A climate fund founded by Bill Gates, with an aim of speeding up the energy transition, also invested €12 million in I-Rox less than a month ago. While this can be applauded, imagine how much less electricity we would be using if Bill Gates just didn’t start Microsoft. Of course, you probably wouldn’t be reading this then either.

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  • Yesterday we gave you some terrible Christmas recipes designed to get you out of cooking. However, if you are instead looking for something interesting (and delicious) to make on Christmas Day, try this roast goose recipe.

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