A Bitcoin mining facility in Slovakia converts human and animal waste into hash rate, securing the network while mining Bitcoin.
As known in the cryptocurrency industry, Bitcoin (BTC) mining requires a large consumption of electricity to run the equipment 24 hours a day. This is something that has been worrying the community for the past year. For this reason, different companies have sought to provide a solution using clean renewable energy for the environment, as is the case in the AmityAge mining farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and Dušan Matuska, this Bitcoin mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity to mine cryptocurrency.
Matuska, the man “who knew Satoshi Nakomoto,” told Cointelegraph that, “methane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.” Since human and animal waste will not run out any time soon, their BTC mining process is green and renewable at the same time.
According to Matuska, the use of renewable energy such as biogas “shows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewable energies and make their return on investment higher in the end”, while also being a cheap energy source.
An Ecological Solution
Biogas power plants, a low-cost and environmentally friendly way of generating electricity, convert waste into methane gas through a fermentation process. The gas then burns as fuel.
Bitcoin mining based on this energy allows them to obtain a negative balance of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This result meets the objective that the member countries of the UN have agreed upon, which is that the global emission of CO2 be zero by 2050. This world goal would cut and prevent the negative effect of climate change on the planet.
Matt Lohstroh, co-founder of Giga Energy, a natural gas Bitcoin miner in Texas, told Cointelegraph that “finding cheap power [for Bitcoin mining] quickly is the biggest problem. All the low-hanging fruit is being plucked.”
Matuska added that, “the energy situation in Europe changed dramatically in November, with a huge increase in prices and a conflict around the corner.” As Lohstroh alludes, making a profit mining Bitcoin can be tricky, which keeps Matuska “busy and worried.”
However, Matuska, an eternal optimist, also stated to Cointelegraph:
“The most exciting part [of Bitcoin mining] is knowing that we’re like ‘Bitcoin security guys,’ helping just a little bit with our hash rate. We’re still helping to protect the network.”
Matuska adds that the overall environmental footprint of his mining farm is quite low, and one of the downsides is excessive heat.
Interested in Bitcoin Mining at Home? Here is what to Do
For those interested in getting started with Bitcoin mining at home, while the process used to be complicated and expensive, solo mining is making a comeback. Compass Mining, the pioneers of at-home Bitcoin mining, launched direct-to-consumer hardware sales in late 2021.
Compass CEO Whit Gibbs told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin miners are some of the biggest Bitcoin banknotes. He illustrates the point: “you can buy $10,000 worth of Bitcoin or you can buy an ASIC (Bitcoin mining rig)”, knowing well that it should pay back the initial investment within “12 to 14 months”. Gibbs thus concludes by asserting that, “You have to be bullish on Bitcoin to believe that you’re going to see that return on a one-off basis, versus simply buying that amount of Bitcoin outright.”
By Audy Castaneda
