Given the energy transition that is going on in the world, energy-intensive industries from manufacturing to AI and BTC mining have fallen under the spotlight. Even with data showing that over 50% of BTC is being mined via renewable energy skeptics still hate it because of its energy usage thinking that because Texas for instance has an excess of energy that this could be sent to say California. People fail to take into consideration that Texas is the only state that does not have its grid connected to the others. This was done way back in the 70s in part to avoid Federal government regulation since there would not be interstate commerce with the grid.
When you are pumping oil and gas no matter where you are you are also to some extent pumping methane. Due to pipeline capacity restrictions in the US companies have opted to flair this gas since it is the least valuable kind. This is what looks like a torch almost coming off of a plant or well facility.
That heat though essentially is lost power so back in 2019 two students from Texas A&M the University I attended (Whoop! Gig'em!) came up with an idea that honestly is so obvious I am shocked no one tried anything like this before. They essentially "harvested" this wasted gas and used it to power Bitcoin miners! Better yet the companies they partnered with also PAID THEM as they were taking care of a problem for the company! Burning the methane and natural gas does result in carbon dioxide being released but compared to methane it is a huge score in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
Again though people who care about the environment and claim to understand the energy transition that is taking place fail basic logic in how to do this. Recent results aka data even back up this idea with Crusoe Energy Systems, a digital infrastructure company for high performance computing and AI, releasing the results of its study which showed a 63% REDUCTION in greenhouse gas emissions when BTC was mined compared to flaring!
Recently we have seen crypto and Argintina in the news due to their countries currency struggling big time. Giga has announced that it will venture into the Argintina market which is the 12th largest global emitter of methane. Given the energy transition goals announced across the globe Argintena punches above its weight big time compared to the countries population size and GDP. This means that there is significant improvement that can be made with Giga fitting the mold for what exactly can be done.
The pilot mine has started operating since Decemeber and has generated between $200,000 and $250,000 in BTC. Giga has started small to to make sure that they are able to import all of the necessary components from miners to the generators they need to convert the gas to energy. The mining operation will take a card out of the Texas playbook as well with the ability to sell excess power to the Argentina grid as well. Currently there are import restrictions facing the expansion of the test plant to the full size plan of a two megawatt BTC mine operation located at Vaca Muerta. If the site reaches its full size then Giga believes it could reduce CO2 emissions from this upstream facilities by 30,000 tons per year!
It seems like a pipedream but I truly do hope that one day environmentalists do look at some of these solutions that are staring them right in the face. Turn key solutions like this should be promoted to help cut emissions and provide economic benefit to an area instead of being shund because they do not like or understand the technology or idea. Bitcoin mining has shown time and time again how it can help the Texas grid and now it is time for people to accept this and leverage this to the benefit of everyone!
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