The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a film promoting the technology that powers gas flare-powered Bitcoin mining. According to industry observers, this is unusual coming from an international non-governmental lobbying body that has usually been skeptical of cryptocurrency. The video was cryptic, referring to mining farms as data centers rather than Bitcoin outright.
The journal spotlights Crusoe Energy, a Bitcoin mining business that uses waste gas to power its farms. Chase Lochmiller, CEO and co-founder of Crusoe, discussed how flare works and how it may be employed in it.
He said that flaring occurs in oil fields or landfills where there is a gas waste stream. The gas is a byproduct of oil production or landfill decomposition. Some businesses, however, burn the gas on-site, resulting in undesired carbon emissions.
Crusoe is a company that designs and runs movable, modular data centers. These can also be relocated to the sources of the waste gas and energy required to power them. In the WEF film, Lochmiller emphasized the positives, saying, “Not only do we create a massive emission reduction from this previously wasted source of energy, but we can also produce ultra-low-cost computing infrastructure by harnessing this otherwise stranded form of energy.”
According to the World Economic Forum, methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Furthermore, during a 20-year period, it stores 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide.
It went on to say that data centers are consuming an increasing amount of energy. They are expected to consume 8% of global electricity by 2030, up from 1-1.5% presently.
Crusoe belongs to one of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Innovator Communities.’
For years, the United States has promoted flaring as a reusable energy source. In 2021, Republican Senator Ted Cruz promoted flaring as a solution to energy-related problems in Texas, a Bitcoin mining hotspot.
Cruz stated at the time, “I think that is an enormous opportunity for Bitcoin because that is currently energy that is just being wasted.” It’s impossible to say how much of the energy consumed in Bitcoin mining is renewable. However, new data indicates that it is currently more than 50%.
According to BeInCrypto, Bitcoin mining now consumes 52.6% sustainable or renewable energy globally. Then, earlier this month, the intensity of BTC mining energy emissions fell to a new low.
