How Bitcoin Turns Wasted Energy Into Magical Internet Money

[Hydrogen]

Amidst many other forms of crypto-skepticism, critiques of energy use by the bitcoin network should remain troubling even to true believers—especially given that we’re hurtling towards a grim climate catastrophe. But the Wall Street Journal describes a small but important real-world example of how things could be improved. The oil drilling operation Black Pearl Resources runs a small bitcoin mining node powered by natural gas that is a byproduct of crude oil extraction. The natural gas isn’t economical to transport or sell, and burning or venting it is harmful to the environment. Because the drilling operation is located near a tiny town (Marwayne, Alberta, population 600), there’s not even much need for the energy locally.

Enter bitcoin.

As reported by the Journal, an oil field consultant named Stephen Barbour last year set up a shipping container housing a few dozen bitcoin mining servers, all powered by Black Pearl’s byproduct natural gas. He has built and sold two other similar setups. As the WSJ notes, there could be a big market for the solution: In places like Texas, natural gas has sometimes become so abundant it must be essentially given away for free.

There is significant upfront cost for Barbour’s mining setups—as much as $130,000 for the container and generator, according to the WSJ, even before mining equipment is installed. The competitive nature of bitcoin mining means that frequent hardware upgrades may continue to be necessary, producing its own stream of e-waste and further expense. And, of course, to the extent that it relies on the larger fossil-fuel industry that is feeding global warming, there’s nothing fundamentally carbon-neutral about this form of bitcoin mining.

It’s also, of course, uncertain whether the up-front investment will turn into profit, depending on the price of bitcoin over the equipment’s lifespan.

But those caveats aside, the example highlights one of the least-appreciated advantages of bitcoin: Because they can be located anywhere with an internet connection, bitcoin mining operations can take advantage of energy supplies that are impractical for other uses. As explained in depth by Coin Center, the electricity used by bitcoin mining is, contrary to some narratives, not expended on “useless calculations.” The computationally-intensive hashing process is the heart of bitcoin’s distributed security scheme, making it just as important as the (no doubt carbon-intensive) steel doors that guard a bank vault. But, simply by virtue of its flexible location, bitcoin mining can potentially be far more efficient and environmentally friendly than a traditional bank vault.

Of course, we no longer store all traditional currency in giant metal boxes, but bitcoin mining is also more flexible than the private servers that run modern banking. Bitcoin’s redundancy allows miners to be located in relatively unsecure locations, like a remote shipping container: Destroying or stealing a bitcoin miner doesn’t touch the bitcoin that has already been mined. Bank servers, by contrast, are high-security data centers, requiring a diverse bundle of infrastructure and staff to protect. (And while they might not all be as power-hungry as a bitcoin mining center, all server farms use energy—a lot of it dirty.)

At various times in recent years, this geographic flexibility this has led to bitcoin mining concentrations near underutilized dams in China and geothermal power sources in Iceland. This isn’t a blanket solution to the bitcoin energy problem, but at the systemic level, it’s potentially transformational: You can’t park a New York bank branch in Mongolia, but a bitcoin server there can help secure money around the world.

This feature of the bitcoin system seems to still be underappreciated and underutilized. According to the Journal, Barbour, when trying to sell his concept, has met significant resistance from oil-field operators who don’t even know what bitcoin is. That means there’s a lot of cheap, otherwise-wasted power waiting to be added to the bitcoin network—and compete with miners running on more expensive, less systemically efficient juice.

https://breakermag.com/how-bitcoin-turns-wasted-energy-into-magical-internet-money/

....

Here we have a different perspective on bitcoin mining energy consumption from our usual "bitcoin mining is the devil" narrative pushed by mainstream news. It highlights bitcoin mining's mobility, how it can be leveraged to utilize pockets of surplus energy which otherwise would go to waste. Bitcoin mining's tendency to utilize environmentally friendly, green sources of energy, with a small carbon footprint such as geothermal are also noted, which could offset the urban legend of bitcoin mining relying primarily on hydrocarbon based fossil fuels such as coal or oil.

I'm not certain what impact bitcoin mining fueled by natural gas could have. There's a chance burning natural gas to power bitcoin miners is more environmentally friendly than releasing natural gas into the atmosphere. Some natural gases like methane are known to trap far more heat per mass than CO2 potentially making them more dangerous. I think methane breaks down to CO2 after its combusted which could represent a smaller carbon footprint over the long term.

[Ailmand]

I haven't actually thought of that until I have read it. It can be true that we might be wasting energy because of bitcoin mining. Imagine how much natural energy is it consuming world-wide if it will end up use less in the future, and how much bitcoin had been mined and lost forever due to hacking, lost wallet access, and etc. I think on the other hand, people who are mining should be using other forms of natural energy, especially green energy to mine bitcoin. That way it can lessen the fact that mining bitcoin which is something digital is harming the real world by wasting energy and using coal powered plant's energy as stated in the article.

[sheenshane]

I really got the point that in order for a person to mine a bitcoin, it requires a massive enough electrical resource for them to mine that specific block. And losing in bitcoin is like wasting energies we should have used for the better stuff. However, miners should really use another alternative to mine like natural resources and renewables. It is really a waste of resources especially if the cryptocurrency will go down soon(I hope didn't happen). I am really worried about it and I really got the point.

[playboy654]

Yes I definitely agree it was true when the the unexpected things are happening will only made the the economy more stronger in this condition so it was happening for Bitcoin development so I think the possibility of making the economy more stronger the stability in the hands of Bitcoin is available and discuss the huge opportunity to be a world currency in the future.

[Zadicar]

I haven't actually thought of that until I have read it. It can be true that we might be wasting energy because of bitcoin mining. Imagine how much natural energy is it consuming world-wide if it will end up use less in the future, and how much bitcoin had been mined and lost forever due to hacking, lost wallet access, and etc. I think on the other hand, people who are mining should be using other forms of natural energy, especially green energy to mine bitcoin. That way it can lessen the fact that mining bitcoin which is something digital is harming the real world by wasting energy and using coal powered plant's energy as stated in the article.

Is there any shortage? I guess none. I havent read up some news that we are already having the scarcity when it comes to energy source but infact we are still abundant and i dont know why bitcoin mining is primarily targeted out with this issue.
If there are possible ways to use up green energy just to mine bitcoin then its ideal to use it but not all do have the capacity nor the funds to set it up.Just talking about utilizing methane wont really cost only
a few dollars.

[Kakmakr]

Well, a lot of the bigger mining operations in China are powered by hydro electric power plants, with almost no negative impacts to the environment, so I cannot see how Geothermal would be a better alternative than hydro electric power generation.

The fact that it is natural energy, does not make it less of an pollutant to the environment.    We should also not forget about the other environment friendly sources of electricity, namely : Solar / Wind / Waves. 

[gentlemand]

I like the idea of it and hope to see more of it, but if a miner finds the dirtiest power imaginable that's 10% less than 'waste' power then they're going to start sucking up as much of that as possible instead.

I don't believe any miner gives a shit about sustainability apart from a few weirdos at the fringes. The world is moving towards cleaner options anyway so it doesn't really matter.

[Kevin77]

This topic of discussion will be getting shut down very soon anyway, when the efficiency of security in blockchain increases (first with the OG method, than segwit now we focus on lightning network) the more we work on it the less computations will be needed and in the end mining will not be profitable business and there will be some methods that require very little computations and there fore electricity used and still provide the most innovative security at the same time.

So, they can talk about how bitcoin is bad for the environment even though it isn't but that will go on just couple more years, I bet in 2025 we will not be using electricity as much and we will be even faster while having less miners. We just gotta adopt and support these new waves of methods that is all.

[Mastercon]

I know mostly people are wasting energy in mining. But i think there will be a solution where we can mine without losing any energy. For example making electricity with the help of Solar panels system. But it required highly invest. I think only it reduce the waste of energy

[kryptqnick]

Thanks for sharing this perspective. I also used to look into this I of mining on ecology, and came to s conclusion that Bitcoin is not to be blamed for it. Bitcoin requires electricity, just like any other technology humans developed recently. What should be promoted is transfer to clean sources of energy, not attempts to abandon electricity. And besides, why is it that banks can use whatever they want and Bitcoin is such a waste? We should care about the way we get electricity and the possible ways of reducing the use of it, but not abandon some great tech because of it.

[mersal]

Yes it is not happening for every  type of investment and any currency in this world it will be like magical things happening to sometimes in this economy will made it more powerful other than ever so it will be an unexpected things will happening in this current scenario for making the people more richer in every investment without any hard work.

[akram143]

Development of Bitcoin is unpredictable that's why I think the Bitcoin to be not predicted by anyone and it will be the mass development in very short period of time but there are lots of things that to be considered with the improvement of Bitcoin in this situation it need to be more stable and more consistent can you delete will be the most top rated currency ever made in this world.

[avikz]

Here we have a different perspective on bitcoin mining energy consumption from our usual "bitcoin mining is the devil" narrative pushed by mainstream news. It highlights bitcoin mining's mobility, how it can be leveraged to utilize pockets of surplus energy which otherwise would go to waste. Bitcoin mining's tendency to utilize environmentally friendly, green sources of energy, with a small carbon footprint such as geothermal are also noted, which could offset the urban legend of bitcoin mining relying primarily on hydrocarbon based fossil fuels such as coal or oil.

I'm not certain what impact bitcoin mining fueled by natural gas could have. There's a chance burning natural gas to power bitcoin miners is more environmentally friendly than releasing natural gas into the atmosphere. Some natural gases like methane are known to trap far more heat per mass than CO2 potentially making them more dangerous. I think methane breaks down to CO2 after its combusted which could represent a smaller carbon footprint over the long term.

Bitcoin utilizes more energy to mine - is a myth! Compare it with the minting systems we have currently in place!

Bitcoin using alternate energy sources to minimize environmental effects - Can be a reality!

Mainstream media will always speak the news what their sponsors wants them to speak! So it makes no sense to believe them without researching the fact. The way fossil fuel is moving towards depletion, the human society will have to move to the alternate energy sources - sooner or later! Solar energy, natural gas or wind turbines are going to be the main energy source at some point of time in the future! And as the technology advances, we will probably have more avenues to generate electricity other than the conventional methods.

I read the below article back in 2018 which will shed some light from a neutral perspective. Read it below,

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/bitcoin-mining-economic-costs-comparison-to-gold-and-banks-fiat-currency/

[jjjfff]

New initiatives such as solar and hydro mining ( https://crypto.bi/tape/blog/hydromining/ ) are going mainstream. Basically we're turning spare available energy into the basis of a financial system.

If we calculate all the energy spent by banks in infrastructure, buildings, security, electricity, money transport and so on it's probably 10000x more than Bitcoin mining energy. Think about that. A financial system based on Bitcoin would probably save trillions of U$ in banking infrastructure in the long run.

[alyssa85]

Unfortunately lots of the eco-warriors are claiming that cryptocurrency mining is destroying the planet because of the energy it uses. As though traditional banking and printing of cash doesn't use energy.

I guess things will improve once coal power stations are closed down and people can no longer argue that mining causes co2 emissions.

[FlightyPouch]

I know mostly people are wasting energy in mining. But i think there will be a solution where we can mine without losing any energy. For example making electricity with the help of Solar panels system. But it required highly invest. I think only it reduce the waste of energy

I don't know about that though, I think it is not that of waste. There are a lot of miners that are using Solar Panels and I think that is helping reduce that energy consumption. We are using a lot of coal, oil and other sources of energy that can destroy the our environment, and they will pointing at Bitcoin now? Talk about bias.

[jak3]

this is true we are spending valuable resources on bitcoin mining and it is growing like addition. this is really bad for the environment. mining nowadays has increased as much power is in the hands of powerful companies in powerful countries. an alternative to bitcoin mining can be trading or we can use mining in a way that the heat generated by it can be used on other things too. we can find multiple uses of it but sadly there is no one for the development like that.

[Beerwizzard]

Another problem is that if you force people to stop "wasting" electricity on mining it doesn't mean that this power, that is now free, would be used on something usefull, that wouldn't be considered as "wasting" energy. For example, I think that using 6 TV sets for a house with 3 rooms would not be a wise electricity spending.

[Genemind]

Since most Bitcoin critics don't have enough knowledge about what mining is, they think of it as an energy-wasting activity were in fact, every business is actually consuming energy and electricity. Miners know what they're doing and they're actually doing everything to eliminate too much energy consumption through using solar panels and through searching for other options and remedy to save energy.

[whirlcoin]

Amidst many other forms of crypto-skepticism, critiques of energy use by the bitcoin network should remain troubling even to true believers—especially given that we’re hurtling towards a grim climate catastrophe. But the Wall Street Journal describes a small but important real-world example of how things could be improved. The oil drilling operation Black Pearl Resources runs a small bitcoin mining node powered by natural gas that is a byproduct of crude oil extraction. The natural gas isn’t economical to transport or sell, and burning or venting it is harmful to the environment. Because the drilling operation is located near a tiny town (Marwayne, Alberta, population 600), there’s not even much need for the energy locally.

Enter bitcoin.

As reported by the Journal, an oil field consultant named Stephen Barbour last year set up a shipping container housing a few dozen bitcoin mining servers, all powered by Black Pearl’s byproduct natural gas. He has built and sold two other similar setups. As the WSJ notes, there could be a big market for the solution: In places like Texas, natural gas has sometimes become so abundant it must be essentially given away for free.

There is significant upfront cost for Barbour’s mining setups—as much as $130,000 for the container and generator, according to the WSJ, even before mining equipment is installed. The competitive nature of bitcoin mining means that frequent hardware upgrades may continue to be necessary, producing its own stream of e-waste and further expense. And, of course, to the extent that it relies on the larger fossil-fuel industry that is feeding global warming, there’s nothing fundamentally carbon-neutral about this form of bitcoin mining.

It’s also, of course, uncertain whether the up-front investment will turn into profit, depending on the price of bitcoin over the equipment’s lifespan.

But those caveats aside, the example highlights one of the least-appreciated advantages of bitcoin: Because they can be located anywhere with an internet connection, bitcoin mining operations can take advantage of energy supplies that are impractical for other uses. As explained in depth by Coin Center, the electricity used by bitcoin mining is, contrary to some narratives, not expended on “useless calculations.” The computationally-intensive hashing process is the heart of bitcoin’s distributed security scheme, making it just as important as the (no doubt carbon-intensive) steel doors that guard a bank vault. But, simply by virtue of its flexible location, bitcoin mining can potentially be far more efficient and environmentally friendly than a traditional bank vault.

Of course, we no longer store all traditional currency in giant metal boxes, but bitcoin mining is also more flexible than the private servers that run modern banking. Bitcoin’s redundancy allows miners to be located in relatively unsecure locations, like a remote shipping container: Destroying or stealing a bitcoin miner doesn’t touch the bitcoin that has already been mined. Bank servers, by contrast, are high-security data centers, requiring a diverse bundle of infrastructure and staff to protect. (And while they might not all be as power-hungry as a bitcoin mining center, all server farms use energy—a lot of it dirty.)

At various times in recent years, this geographic flexibility this has led to bitcoin mining concentrations near underutilized dams in China and geothermal power sources in Iceland. This isn’t a blanket solution to the bitcoin energy problem, but at the systemic level, it’s potentially transformational: You can’t park a New York bank branch in Mongolia, but a bitcoin server there can help secure money around the world.

This feature of the bitcoin system seems to still be underappreciated and underutilized. According to the Journal, Barbour, when trying to sell his concept, has met significant resistance from oil-field operators who don’t even know what bitcoin is. That means there’s a lot of cheap, otherwise-wasted power waiting to be added to the bitcoin network—and compete with miners running on more expensive, less systemically efficient juice.

https://breakermag.com/how-bitcoin-turns-wasted-energy-into-magical-internet-money/

....

Here we have a different perspective on bitcoin mining energy consumption from our usual "bitcoin mining is the devil" narrative pushed by mainstream news. It highlights bitcoin mining's mobility, how it can be leveraged to utilize pockets of surplus energy which otherwise would go to waste. Bitcoin mining's tendency to utilize environmentally friendly, green sources of energy, with a small carbon footprint such as geothermal are also noted, which could offset the urban legend of bitcoin mining relying primarily on hydrocarbon based fossil fuels such as coal or oil.

I'm not certain what impact bitcoin mining fueled by natural gas could have. There's a chance burning natural gas to power bitcoin miners is more environmentally friendly than releasing natural gas into the atmosphere. Some natural gases like methane are known to trap far more heat per mass than CO2 potentially making them more dangerous. I think methane breaks down to CO2 after its combusted which could represent a smaller carbon footprint over the long term.

yes definitely be magical and it will not happen for lots of things but in this world I will say the best invention is bitcoin only because like me there are lots of people getting successful in their life using their development with time in recent times.