- A North Dakota-based oil driller has teamed up with Bitcoin miners to sell its waste gas
- This gas would otherwise be ‘flared’ which is damaging to the environment
- Bitcoin miners use the gas to power their operations
ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest crude oil producer, has struck a deal to route excess natural gas from one of its North Dakotan projects to supply power to a nearby Bitcoin mining operation. The gas being supplied to the Bitcoin miners would otherwise be flared, or burned off, as part of the oil drilling process, but Bitcoin mining operations have found a way to utilize this gas so that it doesn’t get burned, illustrating further examples of ingenuity in the Bitcoin mining space.
ConocoPhilips Bitcoin Mining Deal the Latest in a Line
ConocoPhilips isn’t the first oil and gas company to sell its waste gas to Bitcoin mining companies – in early 2021 Houston-based Kraken Oil & Gas signed up with Crusoe Energy Systems for the same purpose, as did Wyoming-based producer Kirkwood Oil and Gas LLC around the same time.
Flaring has become such a hot topic among environmentalists who should be pleased that the waste gas is being used rather than burnt off, but the moment they hear it is for Bitcoin mining we can be sure that any good will will be lost.
Deals Show Groundbreaking Ingenuity
ConocoPhilips isn’t operating the Bitcoin mining side of things, and has not revealed which miners are taking part in the pilot project but if it is successful then it may well lead to a permanent deal, especially ConocoPhillips is finalizing plans to implement a “zero routine flaring ambition” by 2025.
The ConocoPhilips deal isn’t the first time that waste products have been used for Bitcoin mining – in July last year, Stronghold Digital revealed that it was turning heaps of waste coal, which was sitting idle and leeching into nearby water sources, into electricity to mine Bitcoin.
As time passes, Bitcoin miners will no doubt find ever more inventive ways to use waste products for energy, but don’t let mainstream media outlets find out – it might force them to rethink their bias.
