Vespene Energy, a company that converts landfill methane into energy to fuel bitcoin mining, has recently received $4.3 million from Polychain Capital and other companies to aid in Vespene’s methane converting journey, using small turbines to generate electricity.
All around the world, there have been companies venturing into similar endeavors. Exxon Mobil in the US partnered with Crusoe Energy Systems. Black Mountain Energy in Australia is still waiting for a reply from the Minister for Environment to see if they are going to be able to use methane from wellheads.
On the other hand, many lawmakers are stating that landfill methane energy should not be used for bitcoin mining and should instead be used for shifting everyday electricity usage to cleaner energy sources. Australian environmentalists are saying that, at the very least, new miners in Australia should use renewable energy, instead of fracking.
Daniel Batten, a social and governance analyst, said that even just burning one tone of methane could solve many issues and would be much better than burning the same amount of carbon dioxide. He said that this is the correct direction to go because, while methane may be harmful as it is, the gases that are produced when it gets burned are not harmful.
Vespene estimated that at least 15% of methane emissions in the US came from landfills alone, claiming that most of them do not have the means to have the methane removed and used. Using turbines to do so would, according to Vespene, benefit both the company itself and the landfill owners. Overall, a great idea that should probably be used for daily energy needs as well.
