Black Mountain Energy, an Australian energy and resources company has struck a deal with U.S. based crypto miner, Highwire Energy Partners LLC.
The partnership means that Black Mountain will supply gas from its Canning Basin site in the Kimberley, Western Australia, where Highwire will then convert it into electricity to power Bitcoin mining servers.
If you?re confused about how Highwire?s operation actually works, it?s actually pretty simple. In layman?s terms, when oil and gas companies have unwanted natural gas, they either have to pay for it to be taken away, or they burn it, something that is called ?flaring?.
This is where Highwire comes in. Basically, to help oil and gas companies avoid the extra cost and wasting the leftover gas, they convert the otherwise wasted energy into electricity.
And Bingo! This is how they power the Bitcoin mining servers. Not so complicated after all, right?
Earlier in 2021, Highwire had acquired 40 natural gas wells for Bitcoin mining in South Dakota, along with several other sites in Wyoming.
But what does this mean for the collective global effort to reduce the unfolding events of global warming we are currently witnessing?
Texas Senator Ted Cruz had previously hinted at using unwanted gas for Bitcoin mining, with Russia?s third-largest oil producer, Gazprom Neft, also having recently announced their partnership with BitRiver, the world's largest hosting provider for green cryptocurrency mining.
With the final decision on the project due to be announced once the Environmental Protection Agency finishes its report in 2023, that burning question still remains.
Is this a smart solution to help reduce the emissions and wastage of oil and gas miners, or is it just a quick fix that encourages these companies to continue their environmental impact instead of searching for alternatives to fossil fuels?