Many Bitcoin Mining Facilities Are Trying to Go Green

There are several bitcoin mining facilities out there working hard to reduce the number of emissions they produce.

Bitcoin Mining: Could It Become Cleaner?

Bitcoin mining has endured a bad rap over the years for several reasons, a big one being that allegedly, it puts Earth’s atmosphere in harm’s way. According to several reports, bitcoin mining uses more energy than most developing countries.

There are also several high-ranking individuals out there that have condemned bitcoin mining tactics as they are today and said they would inherently take necessary action to do their part and lessen the problems crypto mining can establish. Among these individuals is Elon Musk, who stated in mid-2021 that nobody could buy Tesla vehicles with bitcoin unless miners were willing to be more transparent about their energy sources and become green.

Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame also said that he wouldn’t be buying any more bitcoin mined in China (this was before the country outlawed it).

Daniel Batten – the co-founder of CH4Capital – said in a recent interview that his company is working to raise as much as $400 million to fund projects that have found ways to convert methane from landfills into renewable energy that can be used to mine bitcoin. He stated:

Once fully deployed, we will have enough capital to take the entire bitcoin network carbon negative. Like EVs, bitcoin does not have any direct emissions, [but] we want to go one step further and mitigate all emissions caused by [the] use of electricity.

Bryan Black is another man trying hard to reduce the carbon emissions of crypto mining companies. As the co-founder and CEO of Nodal Power, a renewable energy company that’s trying to put methane from landfills to similar use, he mentioned:

In some instances, we have looked at sites that we will develop a plant with a datacenter, then graduate that project to a grid-tied site… Simply put, we know what we are doing is good for the landfills, good for the local power markets, good for the expansion of technology, and good for the environment.

Two years ago, his company raised a whopping $13 million to set up present landfill projects. Black has also taken out two patents relating to the technology his firm has developed to set up power grids.

Doing the Smart Thing with Energy

Lastly, there’s Adam Wright, the co-founder and CEO of Vespene Energy. His company works to locate bitcoin datacenters and similar institutions as a means of deciding how landfill methane can best be used and converted. He said:

We target these smaller sites, develop them into energy projects to cleanly combust the methane, and use the energy on-site. Over time, as energy prices change and other markets develop for biogas-derived power, we can pivot into other revenue sources.