The alternative energy that Stronghold Digital Mining uses for Bitcoin mining comes from coal landfill reclamation in the state of Pennsylvania.
Stronghold Digital Mining has come up with an environmentally friendly alternative to mining Bitcoin. The mining company, located in the state of Pennsylvania (United States), is using waste from coal mining to generate alternative energy and sustain its operations on the blockchain network.
Removing coal waste for Bitcoin mining
The modern techniques that the company is using for Bitcoin mining not only help it extract the cryptocurrency on the network, but also contribute to reducing the environmental damage that coal mining has created over the past two centuries.
Source: Stronghold Digital Mining
Stronghold Digital Mining is using coal waste, classified as a Tier II alternative energy resource in the state of Pennsylvania, to generate alternative energy through controlled burning. The company collects coal waste from various areas in the state and processes it at its power generation facilities, which have a combined capacity of 165 megawatts (MW).
By removing coal waste from the ground, Stronghold Digital Mining is helping to minimize water pollution, air pollution, and potential fires. The company is powering nearly 54.000 Bitcoin miners from its alternative energy generation facilities located at the Scrubgrass Plant and Panther Creek Plant.
5,2 exahashes per second of power
In total, all agreements concluded by Stronghold Digital Mining with Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturers have provided the company with 5,2 exahashes per second (EH/s) of power on the Bitcoin network, reported Stronghold Co-President and CEO Greg Beard in December of last year.
The crypto mining company signed several agreements with BTC miner manufacturers to acquire 9.080 new bitcoin mining rigs. Earlier this year, it received a first batch of 4.800 BTC miners, which were installed in its recovery and alternative energy generation plants. Stronghold Digital Mining is expected to receive the second batch of BTC miners in the middle of this year.
Debate over Bitcoin's energy consumption
The proliferation and rise of Bitcoin has accentuated the global debate over its energy consumption. According to statistics from the Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index from Cambridge University, the current annualized consumption of the Bitcoin network is approximately 137 terawatt hours (TWh).
Although this represents much less than 1% of global energy, Bitcoin miners have been developing new alternatives to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of this activity.
Stronghold Digital Mining’s vertically integrated BTC mining model is challenging the idea that crypto mining comes with potential environmental costs. As Reuters highlights, Stronghold Digital Mining is at least proving otherwise by using Bitcoin mining to clean up its community of the waste that coal-fired power plants have been accumulating for decades, damaging the landscape and the environment.
Other environmentally friendly Bitcoin mining alternatives
Other companies, such as Upstream Data and Crusoe Energy Systems (in the United States) and Gazprom subsidiary Gazpromneft (in Russia), have been using the passive resources of the oil exploitation, such as associated gas, to sustain Bitcoin mining.
El Salvador, the first country in the world to make Bitcoin its legal tender, is harnessing geothermal energy from its volcanoes to mine BTC on the network.
In April of last year, Square and Ark Investment published a report qualified “Bitcoin, the key to an abundant and clean energy future”, in which they indicate that cryptocurrency mining is leading to the discovery of new sources of renewable and sustainable energy.
Main image from Forbes
Continue reading: El Salvador takes its first steps towards Bitcoin mining with geothermal energy
