BlocksInform
International oil and gas giant ConocoPhilips is dipping its toes into Bitcoin (BTC) mining as a way to eliminate the wasteful practice of flaring.
According to a report from CNBC, the company is currently operating a pilot scheme in the oil-rich region of Bakken, North Dakota. Instead of burning excess gas, a byproduct of oil drilling known as flaring, the company sells it to a third-party bitcoin miner to be used as fuel.
Speaking on the environmental impacts of “routine flaring”, a representative from the company stated that the decision to move into Bitcoin mining reflected the company’s overarching objective of reducing and “ultimately eliminating routine flaring as soon as possible, no later than 2030.”
In a slide from a 2021 ConocoPhillips presentation, the company said it is "continually emphasizing" the need to ensure that gas capture projects do not produce routine flaring by 2025.
ConocoPhillips testing out bitcoin mining in the Bakken
Good find from @EnergyInfraBro $COP pic.twitter.com/Gk5tRJCbrh
— Collin McLelland ??? (@FracSlap) September 23, 2021
Bitcoin mining offers a unique and cost-effective solution to the routine flaring problem, which occurs when mining companies accidentally hit natural gas formations while drilling for oil.
While oil can be siphoned and collected at any location, natural gas harvesting requires pipeline infrastructure. If miners hit the gas at a significant distance from a pipeline, companies are forced to burn or flare the gas, which is ultimately an unprofitable and environmentally harmful procedure.
Instead of allowing the gas to be wasted, Bitcoin miners place shipping containers or trailers filled with crypto mining equipment near an oil well and divert the gas into generators which power the equipment.
Related: Are we ill-informed about the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining?
Conocophillips did not reveal which bitcoin miner it was sold to, nor how long the preliminary experiment was under way.
Another u.s.-based oil and gas explorer, crusoe energy also benefited from bitcoin mining as a way to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner, with about 60 data centres and bitcoin extraction units fueled by diverted natural gas on their oil fields. According to a report from Argus media, Crusoe Energy’s technology lowers CO2-equivalent emissions by as much as 63% when compared with regular routine flaring.
In response to the widely-circulated criticisms of Bitcoin mining that usually emerge from environmental concerns, miners have become increasingly concerned with finding new ways to harness more sustainable methods of energy.
The Bitcoin Mining Council estimated a sustainable energy mix of 58.5% for the global industry in the fourth quarter of 2021. Miners in Norway are even using waste heat to dry out lumber.
