ExxonMobil Is Considering Using Natural Gas Waste to Make Crypto Mining Greener

For more than a year, media sources have slammed cryptocurrencies that use a proof of work (PoW) consensus process to authenticate transactions for their detrimental environmental effect. That's because crypto mining businesses use a lot of energy to power the heavy-duty computers and cooling units required to crack complicated codes quickly and confirm blockchain transactions, earning bitcoin as a reward for their work.

Many climate change observers argue that all of the energy used and produced by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethererum leaves a carbon footprint that harms the environment and tarnishes the cryptocurrency's image.

However, according to a Bloomberg story published on Thursday, ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) has been conducting a trial project since January 2021 to create power for Bitcoin miners using extra natural gas it generates but can't transport. ExxonMobil has also negotiated a partnership with Crusoe Energy to utilize surplus natural gas from oil wells in North Dakota to power crypto PoW operations, according to the story. This crypto project's beta test consumes 18 million cubic feet of natural gas per month. Exxon's daily output volume in the state is less than half of a percent.
Transporting natural gas, according to ExxonMobil, requires adequate pipes to securely handle the complete quantity of supply they collect. The issue is that there aren't enough transportation pipes, forcing energy producers to either burn off — or "flare" — surplus gas or vent it directly into the atmosphere. This waste is bad for the environment as well as the producer's bottom line.

From the standpoint of crypto miners, natural gas-generated energy emits around half the quantity of greenhouse gases as coal-generated electricity.

Investors, regulators, and environmentalists are putting growing pressure on gas and oil corporations to reduce their carbon footprint in order to mitigate harmful climate consequences. Flared gas waste reduction is a step in the right way. While the fuel is being burnt as part of this crypto effort, it substitutes the typical fuel that would have been utilized in the crypto-mining process.

This idea, according to the research, might be extended to Alaska, as well as Germany, Guyana, Argentina, and Nigeria.