598 Green Computing Power from Surplus Renewable Energy - with John Belizaire

·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

John Belizaire uses crypto to turn wasted renewable energy into green computing power.

The episode begins with host Ernesto Glucksmann introducing the problem of renewable energy intermittency and curtailment, where excess energy is wasted. Guest John Belizaire, CEO of Saluna Computing, joins to discuss his solution. John explains that the grid was designed for synchronous fossil fuel plants, not variable renewables, leading to congestion when multiple plants cluster in ideal locations. He describes this as the 'McDonald's and Burger King problem,' where plants bid energy at negative prices to avoid shutdowns. Saluna addresses this by building modular data centers directly at renewable sites, absorbing curtailed energy to power computing tasks. These data centers use flexible applications like crypto mining and AI, which can tolerate intermittent uptime around 85%. John details the technical aspects, including stepping down high-voltage power and using air-cooled, thermally efficient designs. He outlines Saluna's business model: phase one uses crypto mining to generate cash and build scale, while phase two will expand to other computing markets like cloud services. The company raises capital through equity markets and project-level investments, focusing on utility-scale plants of 50-100 megawatts. John discusses the global impact, noting potential applications in energy-poor regions to spur economic growth. He shares his CEO insights on focus and saying no to distractions. The episode concludes with statistics on the market size, estimating 225 terawatt hours of wasted energy annually and a $100 billion computing opportunity.

As heard by us

A clear, practical look at using curtailed renewable power for flexible computing.

Renewable energy's intermittency turns into a computing-market question in this PlayNext episode with John Belizer, CEO of Saluna Holdings. The conversation begins with curtailment: solar and wind sites can produce power the grid cannot take, leaving some of it unused.

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Why you'd press play

Curious how curtailed renewable power could turn into cheaper computing? You get the grid problem, the strange crypto-adjacent angle, and the business logic in one sitting.

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