As concerns about the energy consumption of Bitcoin continue to rise, a number of alternative solutions have been presented. Flared natural gas has been posited as a possible solution to the high emissions produced by Bitcoin mining farms.
This week saw Bitcoin dropping to a low of $42,200, fueled by a comment by Elon Musk on Twitter that revealed Tesla would no longer be accepting Bitcoin in payment. While he later clarified that Tesla had no plans to sell their Bitcoin, Musks comments followed a decision by the billionaire to no longer support energy produced from coal.
Flared natural gas, also known as a flare stack, is the controlled burning of natural gas that could represent a potential alternative to energy produced from coal. Oil producers flare natural gas when they are unable to build a pipeline or find themselves unable to process the natural gas. In other words, a flare stack is ‘wasted energy’.
The international Energy Agency has estimated that in 2019 flared natural gas released the same amount of carbon dioxide as Italy. Rather than using high carbon producing energy sources, a number of crypto pundits have suggested using flared natural gas to power Bitcoin mining; offering oil producers a way to profit from the otherwise wasted gas. Matt Lohstroh, co-founder of Giga Energy Solutions commented on his companies innovative crypto mining solutions:
“We come in, they‘re making zero for their gas, we say, hey, we’ll come in take the gas off your hands, give you a little something. We‘ll be able to reduce your emissions you’re putting out, combust it, create economic value on our end”
Diverting flared gas to cryptocurrency mining may well be a way to repurpose wasted energy, however the actual impact of emissions may not cut emissions in a significant way. Nonetheless, the fact remains that reducing the energy produced by coal mining is increasingly demanded by consumers.
A number of green alternatives to Bitcoin have emerged in recent months, driving forward the demand for cleaner energy from environmentally conscious consumers.