In this article, we’ll examine what flare gas is, how it is used, and how the capturing of flare gas benefits the environment.
We’ll also dive into the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.
The environment is a very important issue and currently, the impact of crypto mining on the environment is becoming an ever-increasing topic of interest. Since many people believe that blockchain technology will play an important role in our future, we must examine the environmental impact of blockchain technology and crypto mining.
For the blockchain to operate, typically either Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS) is required. Proof of work is arguably the more energy-intensive method of operating a blockchain.
It’s worth noting that, although Bitcoin mining has been stigmatized as harmful to the environment, the banking system and gold consumes twice as much energy as the Bitcoin network, according to Galaxy Digital. Plus, with more mining operations investing in green energy, it’s arguable the crypto industry will drive renewable energy adoption and innovation.
Here at Elite Mining Inc, it is our vision to make mining green and reduce the carbon footprint of mining, while helping to operate the blockchain. With companies like Elite Mining using proprietary immersion mining technology, green energy, and the most efficient mobile mining solutions, the future of the blockchain looks bright.
As you may think, the easiest way to make mining more sustainable is to make sure that the energy required to mine is as close to 100% green as possible. That includes using air, solar, wind and hydro power. However, there is another method of capturing energy that is not commonly used or typically seen as ‘green’: flare gas.
This article will try to explain what flare gas is, how it’s used, and how the capturing of flare gas is a good thing for the environment.
What is flare gas and how is it used
Flare gas, alternatively called a flare stack, is a gas combustion device used in industrial plants like refineries and gas processing facilities. Flare gas is also common at oil and/or gas extraction sites with gas wells, oil wells, landfills, and offshore oil or gas rigs.
In industrial plants, flare gas is mainly used to burn flammable gas that is released by safety valves when there is over-pressuring in the plant. When the plant (partially) starts up or shuts down, the flared gas is also used.
At extraction wells for gas and oil, gas flares are used for similar reasons. Additionally, it can be used for disposing of bigger quantities of unwanted gas that is being created by the extraction of oil.
Now, let’s get to why this matters for Bitcoin mining. Most notably, flare gas has a massive impact on the environment. That’s why learning how to capture and use it for Bitcoin mining could benefit the environment.
According to the World Bank, each year about 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas is flared, which emits around 400 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions and other pollutants like methane. Research from the European Geosciences Union says gas flaring emissions contribute to around 43% of the black carbon surface concentrations in the Arctic annually. Gas flaring also wastes a resource, namely energy. Word Bank data says that wasted energy could produce around 400 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, making flare gas a real issue that needs to be addressed.
Read about our partnership with AXP Energy. AXP will provide us with energy in the form of stranded gas.
Capturing flare gas
One solution to mitigate the negative effect of flare gas is the capturing, utilization or transportation of flare gas so that it will not be wasted anymore. Although capturing flare gas still produces emissions due to the creation and utilization of energy, it reduces the negative impact on the environment when compared to not capturing flare gas (just letting it escape into the atmosphere). A case study in Colombia looked at several mitigation actions to reduce emissions related to gas flaring, including electricity generation.
Creating a value chain to capture, store, transport and distribute flare gas can be challenging. New inventions have certainly helped to make this process easier and more doable, such as small-scale, modular gas utilization technologies. The main problem with those new technologies is that they can be expensive and it would not be economically viable for a company to use them (World Bank). More traditional methods of capturing and transporting flare gas are an alternative but those can be dependent on location, which makes it difficult in remote and hard to reach areas or areas with little infrastructure.
Flare gas and crypto mining
Elite Mining Inc offers a solution to the above-mentioned problems. Flare gas has a negative impact on the environment and the capturing and utilization of flare gas can reduce that impact. However, the capturing or utilization of flare gas may be economically unviable and/or practically almost impossible due to infrastructure, accessibility, location or other factors.
Thankfully, Elite Mining Inc (EMI) has devised a method that can help solve all of this: combining crypto mining, flare gas capturing and mobile mining units.
Through its subsidiary, EMI creates mobile units, which are trailers that can be attached to a truck. This makes them very easy to move around and also to go to remote and hard to reach locations to set up (for example to where gas is flared). Those mobile units are outfitted with immersion tanks in which crypto mining hardware can be installed. By capturing flare gas and transforming it into electricity with generators on the spot, these units can be hooked up and mine cryptocurrency on site. These mobile units will therefore be able to reach remote locations and make it economically viable to capture and transform flare gas into electricity on site while mining crypto currencies.
Conclusion
Flare gas has a negative impact on the environment. However, capturing and using flare gas can reduce the harm done to the environment while ensuring no precious energy resources are wasted. Up until now, it wasn’t always economically viable to capture and use flare gas for various operations. Thankfully, Elite Mining Inc has created a solution by combining mobile crypto mining with flare gas capture.
The future for flare gas in crypto mining looks bright. Its use in powering crypto mining operations will not only reduce harm to the environment, but also make mining operations more profitable (as it’s cheap and abundant). This is great news for investors and mining operations.
At Elite Mining Inc, we have the lowest 2% energy costs in the country, thanks to our use of renewable energy and flare gas. Those energy prices, along with our incredible mining efficiency, proprietary immersion technology and mobile mining containers, help us achieve great margins and potential profit. If you’d like to learn more about mining, hosting or investing with EMI click the link below: