Bitcoin network will reduce more emissions than energy sources produce

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sits on the old landfill. The 52-hectare landfill has existed since the 1950s and had been in operation since the 1970s as a managed pit and storage dump in a former gravel pit. Due to the lack of a base liner, waste dumping ceased in 2005 and surface capping was initiated. Even after its closure, the landfill emits gases produced by bacteria in the organic parts of household waste stored in the absence of air. About half of landfill gas is methane, which is extracted and used in a combined heat and power plant. Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images)dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

According to Daniel Batten, co-founder of CH4Capital, Bitcoin mining could soon reduce more emissions than its energy sources produce. Batten is a partner in a fund that raises $400 million to fund projects to mitigate landfill methane by using the gas to mine bitcoin.

Once fully deployed, we will have enough capital to take on the entire carbon-negative bitcoin network, Batten told me in our interview, a claim that flies in the face of recent high profile bitcoin criticism.

Like eVs, bitcoin has no direct emissions, [but] we want to go further and also mitigate all emissions caused by the use of electricity,” Batten said of the intent of the funds. By targeting landfills that vent their methane, he says, they can mitigate emissions ten times faster than other techniques.

Batten is convinced that his project can have a significant impact. Several companies are already using bitcoin mining as a tool to monetize this waste and mitigate landfill emissions. These companies paved the way for Batten and his team to continue this effort.

Nodal power

Bryan Black is co-founder and CEO of Nodal Power, a renewable energy company that taps into landfills for methane to generate electricity. In some cases we have looked at sites where we are going to develop a factory with a data center and then scale that project to a grid related site, Black told me about their site development progress.

Black proposed that Nodal is not a bitcoin mining company, rather they have found that data centers and technology have allowed them to expand their footprint in the market in a unique way. Bitcoin mining was a key tool they used for Nodal to prove that landfill gas projects can operate reliably and efficiently off-grid.

Nodal raised $13 million in 2021 to begin its landfill projects. They also filed two patents related to the technology they developed for using biogas in an off-grid configuration. Nodal is currently engaged with an investment bank to raise $60 million in equity to continue its expansion.

Simply put, we know what we’re doing is good for landfills, good for local electricity markets, good for technology expansion, and good for the environment, Black concluded.

Vespene

Adam Wright is co-founder and CEO of Vespane Energy, a biogas-to-energy developer that co-locates data centers, such as bitcoin mining, with power generation assets. This technique allows them to derive immediate financial value from biogas without having to wait for grid connections.

In our interview, Wright described the lucrative market that large landfill operators have, selling their captured methane as renewable natural gas. However, the calculations do not work as well with smaller sites due to high capital requirements.

We target these smaller sites, develop them into energy projects to cleanly burn the methane and use the energy on site, Wright told me during our interview.

Over time, as energy prices change and other markets develop for energy derived from biogas, we can look to other sources of revenue, Wright said of the future of business.

Although Vespane and Nodal are not solely dedicated to bitcoin mining, their business operations have served as an important proof of concept in the space. It is the scalability and transportability of bitcoin mining that allows operators to monetize energy at source.

This unique attribute will allow Battens’ team to target smaller landfills that may not be suitable for grid connections or larger gas gathering operations. Bitcoin incentives are starting to play out across the energy sector. The economic value provided by these incentives leads to a cleaner future, without the need for regulatory coercion.

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I’m a freelance writer exploring the Bitcoin ecosystem. My work has been published by Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoin News. I am personally invested in bitcoin and am fascinated by the emerging bitcoin economy.

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