Green Bitcoin Mining Possible

In the last few months, one of the biggest points of criticism against Bitcoin mining is its immense energy costs. According to Bitcoin critics, the process of mining for Bitcoin is sucking up huge amounts of energy, which in turn are shooting up energy costs.

BitcoinMagazine has reported how Bitcoin mining can actually be eco-friendly and leave a very small carbon footprint. According to this article, Bitcoin mining can not only be sustainable, but its energy emissions can actually be recycled and used for other green projects.

Here are a few of the green projects that are being undertaken in various parts of the world:

Hydromining

Andreas Antonopoulos, one of the world’s foremost Bitcoin and blockchain experts, says that Bitcoin mining can be used to utilize the excess power produced by hydroelectric plants that otherwise go to waste. Then, the cryptocurrency mined using this system could be used as an alternative store of value.

In fact, while Chinese crypto mining farms were the pioneers in Hydromining, the process has been adopted in many regions that have cheap river-run energy projects. Hydrominer is one such venture. Nadine and Nicole Damblon, along with a group of miners, created the Hydrominer Limited Company in 2016, which now has two mining facilities.

The second facility was built from the funds the company generated after launching its H2o ICO token. Each H2o token gives the user 5kWh worth of mining time which can be redeemed for any cryptocurrency that the facilities are mining. Now, the company is launching its H3o token, which will pay its users dividends (like securities do) and will be the crypto token which will be completely compliant with European finance law.

Heating Homes and Facilities

The heat that mining rigs generate can be utilized to heat homes, especially in colder climates. In Irkutsk, Siberia, the Tolmachyovs are using the heat from their crypto mining rig to heat their micro-home. The beauty of this set up is that the Tolmachyovs don’t need extra energy to heat their home. They use the excess power from the local hydroelectric dam at low costs and divert the heat generated by their hardware to keep their home warm.

The Myera Group, a Canadian company, has taken this concept even further. This company uses the heat from its mining rigs to run a sustainable greenhouse as well as fish farm in Manitoba, Canada. The co-founder of NakamotoX, Kamil Brejcha is using the excess heat from his crypto-mining facility to grow tomatoes.

Solar and Wind Energy Mining

There is also a growing number of miners who have harnessed natural forces such as solar and wind energy to generate power to run their mining operations. A prime example of this is Arizona-based Bitcoin miner Nasty Mining.

There are many more examples of ventures across the world that are using sustainable and green options for crypto-mining. At the end of the day, even energy heavy projects such as cryptocurrency mining can be done sustainably and in an environmentally responsible way.