- Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG), a crypto mining firm in Pennsylvania, in quite a unique way, is powering hundreds of mining rigs by turning waste from old power plants into energy.
- The mining firm is using coal refuse, which has various environmental side effects, to generate the energy for mining.
- Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips, an oil drilling company in North Dakota, has also started a program in which it would sell the byproducts generated by Bitcoin miners.
In a revolutionary act, a crypto mining company in Pennsylvania, Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG), to power hundreds of mining rigs are using waste from old power plants to generate energy.
The company gathers leftovers from the process of coal mining called coal refuse and burns them in an emission-controlled environment at its energy generation facilities.
Coal refuse can lead to various environmental problems such as air and water pollution, and acid mine drainage, the acidic water that generates due to the coal mining operations. The company is solving this problem in a pretty smart way by collecting the water and disposing of it safely and in the process of generating power for crypto mining.
With the amount of coal wastage at 881 pounds per 2,200 pounds mined or 400 kilograms per ton, the State of Pennsylvania acquired the third position in terms of coal producers in the United States. According to the estimation by Stronghold, Pennsylvania alone generates 220 million tons of harmful wastage.
Proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have come under the radar of regulators since they depend on energy-intensive processes for mining and providing validation for the network.
Citing the hazardous environmental impacts of proof of work mining as it uses fossil fuels, a New York state proposal was introduced earlier this month. Today, the New York State Assembly advanced the same proposal. If the proposal gets passed, it will lead up to a suspension of 3 years in New York.
Other schemes are also sought ways to make Bitcoin mining- environmentally- friendly. ConocoPhillips, an oil drilling company, began a program in North Dakota earlier this month. The program aims to sell the byproducts generated by Bitcoin miners rather than burning them.
A crypto mining company based in the United Kingdom, Argo Blockchain, made the announcement that operations had turned into climate-positive on its greenhouse gas emissions last August. As per its plans, a 200 MW mining facility in Texas is ready to run on renewable energy.
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Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/03/23/us-bitcoin-mining-firm-utilizes-harmful-coal-waste-to-generate-energy-for-mining/