BTC mining and the miners themselves appear to be doing more than just securing the Bitcoin network.
What do a swimming pool, beef jerky, a caravan, wood, animal waste, a Guatemalan lake, and a high school have in common? Bitcoin (BTC) mining has saved all of them. From reusing “waste” heat to get work done, to receiving a blast of cold air to dehydrate meat, to cleaning up contaminants, Bitcoin mining does more than just secure the network.
Here is a rundown of seven times Bitcoin mining lent a helping hand or just made the world a better place.
Free Bitcoin Mining Education in Washington
Sustainable Bitcoin mining company Merkle Standard has taken Bitcoin mining education into its own hands. In partnership with Bitmain, they recently gifted the latest Bitcoin mining technology to Newport High School, a high school in Washington State.
They donated $10,000. Additionally, they are promoting Bitcoin education in hopes that they will “plant a seed that will foster a lifelong interest in Blockchain and digital mining.”
Adam Delderfield, director of business development at Bitmain – the holding company for Bitcoin miners Antminer – told Cointelegraph: “Digital currency mining revenue from this giveaway will go directly to education,” adding that “mining Bitcoin and proof-of-work represent an exciting new industry that opens up numerous new opportunities.”
Bitcoin Miner Beef Jerky Cooked by the Business Cat Chef
The Bitcoiner Business Cat, who wishes to remain anonymous, uses the heat given off by mining Bitcoin to dry the meat and turn it into beef jerky. Bitcoin miners have an excess supply of hot, dry air,” they told Cointelegraph, so it makes sense to channel that heat over strips of meat to make jerky.
Like Merkle Standard, for Business Cat, the jerky cooking process is not about making money: “My regular food dehydrator uses a lot less energy than an S9, but hashpower dehydrated jerky just tastes better.”
Bitcoin Heat my Pool
Bitcoin enthusiast Jonathan Yuan found a cheaper, faster, and more stable way to heat his swimming pool in Minnesota, all thanks to Bitcoin mining.
Thanks to immersion heating, Bitcoin now feeds your pool. Although Yuan does not like to swim, his children are happy to swim in the pool while he secures the Bitcoin network.
Has the Propane Gas Tank Heater Failed? Bitcoin Miner to the Rescue!
Michael Schmid is a very well-traveled and knowledgeable Bitcoiner. When his camper’s propane gas heater broke down, he re-equipped the vehicle to be heated by “waste” heat from a Bitcoin S9 miner.
Schmid told Cointelegraph that he saves “about 50% of the cost of propane, which works out to about $2.7 a day.”
In his own words, “Our Airstream has solar panels on top of it that can generate up to 400W of energy, so technically of the 1400W that the miner uses, 400W of them are self-generated and fully renewable.”
Waste Heat from Bitcoin Miner Dries out Wood
Kryptovault is a Norwegian Bitcoin mining company with the greenest credentials in the entire industry. Powered 100% by hydroelectric power, the energy it uses resolves valid blocks on the Bitcoin Blockchain and the heat generated by the miners blows onto damp logs at a local sawmill.
The environmental success of the project has stimulated other partnerships. Kjetil Hove Pettersen, CEO of KryptoVault, told Cointelegraph that algae drying for local businesses is coming, and they are “constantly looking for new ways to use our waste heat.”
Promotion of Financial and Energy Autonomy in Guatemala
In southern Guatemala, a team of Bitcoin miners donated an S9 to the local mayor and the mining proceeds have the goal of repairing a wastewater treatment plant.
As Bill Whittaker, co-founder of Bitcoin Lake, told Cointelegrpah, the team is “self-funding carbon-negative Bitcoin mining R&D.” Two high school students, Madaket and Kate, are planning a trip to “LakeBitcoin in early May to deliver the S17s they’ve been working on.”
The Bitcoin miners they bring in will join the first Bitcoin miner and will naturally run with renewable energy, in this case, biogas. Biogas is growing in popularity as a source of energy for Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin Mining Grows Flowers and Food
Bitcoin miners heat a greenhouse in the Netherlands instead of natural gas. In collaboration with a large greenhouse, they “placed a Bitcoin miner to reduce the use of natural gas, whose prices have skyrocketed, and heat the greenhouse with the miner’s heat instead.”
By Audy Castaneda
