Oliver Wyman Iberia Case: Sustainability Concept of a Bitcoin Mining Company in the US

Recommended approach:

• The candidate gives a proper structure to all the potential initiatives or solutions proposed
• The candidate understands that solutions to be more sustainable are not only focused on reducing energy consumption
• The candidate is able to prioritize the different solutions proposed
• The candidate dismisses solutions that are not sensible from a business point of view (e.g. reducing the time in which mining computers are running or any other solution that involves reducing the number of bitcoins mined)

Question #1 – Potential structured solution:

• Mining more sustainable crypto coins
  • Switch to mining cryptocurrencies with a less energy-intensive algorithm (e.g. Ethereum)
• Seeking alternative sources of energy
  • Invest on your own to shift to renewable sources of energy, either partially or totally (e.g. solar, wind) either partially or totally (e.g. solar, wind)
  • Reuse of energy waste (e.g. transform heat from computers into electricity)into electricity)
• Partnering with other players
• Combine investment efforts with other mining facilities to shift to renewable sources of energies (e.g. set shift to renewable sources of energies (e.g. set--up a joint facility close to a renewable energy source)facility close to a renewable energy source)
• Agreements with renewable energy suppliers for energy consumption in ”valley ” demand cycles
  • Repurposing obsolete hardware
• Find second--life use for old computers and electronic life use for old computers and electronic components
• Offsetting the carbon footprint
  • Invest in the repopulation of a forest to offset the carbon footprint of firm footprint.

Recommended approach:

• The candidate frames the solution as a basic trade-off analysis on the costs side
• The candidate correctly assumes that revenues are not impacted (unless they propose valid reasoning for considering revenues)
• The candidate understands that once the solar plant is built there is no need to pay for electricity
• The candidate considers all types of costs related to the investment in the solar plant (e.g. land, batteries, maintenance)

Question #2 – Potential formulas used for the trade-off analysis

The client should not consider switching to a 100%-solar power energy scenario; potential alternatives to consider are (1) partnering with other clients to build a solar plant of larger scale and reduce the costs of the investment or storage, (2) switching to a hybrid model where both the solar plant and the standard power supply are used, (3) offering to manage the electricity grid to local authorities (sell energy to the grid at peak price times / absorb extra power at valley times)