In the cryptosphere, we’ve put up with enough bad jokes about bitcoin “destroying the planet and the climate”, not to be pleased with the demonstration of the exact opposite. Bitcoin (BTC) mining will actually provide useful heating for a hundred buildings in Canada, while generating revenue and reducing gas heating.
Bitcoin protects the climate by reducing CO2 emissions
While power consumption is an (abusive) pretext often deployed by opponents of cryptocurrencies using Proof of Work (PoW), this consensus method is still one of the most secure and decentralized ways to validate transaction blocks in a blockchain network.
But the crypto-asset mining company MintGreen has come to prove that this mode of operation can have other interests. In a press release dated October 14, the Canadian company announced that it will partner with Lonsdale Energy Corporation to provide heating in a novel way to the city of North Vancouver, British Columbia.
In fact, 100 residential and commercial buildings in this urban area located north of the large Canadian city of Vancouver will be heated using “digital boilers” starting next year. This will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared to conventional gas heating.
“MintGreen’s digital boilers will prevent 20,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere per megawatt produced, compared to natural gas. The concurrent production of bitcoins and usable thermal energy makes digital boilers the most cost-effective low-carbon heating technology in the world.”
MintGreen announcement
Crypto-mining + heating: good for the environment and local economy
MintGreen’s digital boilers recover more than 96% of the electricity used for bitcoin mining in the form of thermal energy, which in itself already annihilates the “waste of energy” grievance so dear to environmentalists.
But it goes far beyond that here, since, with the aim of decarbonizing its electricity production, Lonsdale Energy Corporation was looking for an efficient way to reduce the consumption of natural gas used to heat the 155,000 inhabitants of this urban area, where temperatures can still drop to -20°C in winter.
“The complex issue of climate change requires innovative solutions, and Lonsdale Energy Corporation, along with the City of North Vancouver, is showing tremendous leadership in environmental stewardship. (…) Hydroelectric power [powering the digital boilers] makes up more than 97% of power producer BC Hydro’s energy mix. Using this energy twice eliminates waste and discharge, making this one of the greenest projects in the industry.”
Colin Sullivan, CEO of MintGreen
While in North America, Bitcoin will reduce CO2 emissions while saving money in the green transition, the king of cryptos may have other benefits elsewhere as well. Indeed, in South America, specifically in Colombia, Bitcoin could help fight drug trafficking, offering BTC mining (thanks to the country’s many hydroelectric power sources) as an alternative to growing cocaine.
