Indeed, there is a way to have “greener” Bitcoin.
Crusoe Energy, a Colorado-based mining and alternative energy company, has been put into the spotlight for its unique way of averting the damaging effects to the climate and the environment of Bitcoin (BTC) mining.
Cryptoslate cited a feature about this on TechCrunch, which gave the idea of how the energy company is solving one of the greatest issues encountered by crypto mining.
According to the feature, Crusoe Energy is using excess natural gas from existing energy operations to power its cryptocurrency mining operations.
The excess energy that is set for wastelands is used by the company instead of a dedicated energy source for Bitcoin mining operations.
The lingering Bitcoin mining issues
Some might ask, how does Bitcoin get to have energy issues?
The massive energy usage of Bitcoin (BTC) comes from the process of mining that makes use of complex computing systems validating transactions on the network for Bitcoin “rewards.”
The process came to be known as “proof of work” and is true for other coins such as Ethereum (ETH) and Monero (XMR).
It has gained notoriety and has been the subject of scrutiny by many governments because of its high energy consumption and by-products that are thought to harm the environment.
Crusoe Energy magic
In tackling this problem, the company installs its solutions at oil rigs that are prone to flaring, which is a safety device used in refineries and petrochemical facilities.
The flares are used to burn excess hydrocarbon gases which cannot be recovered or recycled. The resultant excess energy is used to power data centers and mine the crypto.
Since the mining operation depends on excess energy, there is less strain on the actual energy consumption of the company, enabling it to produce what they term as “greener” Bitcoin.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube