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A Bitcoin mining facility in Slovakia converts human and animal waste into Bitcoin hash rate, securing the network while mining Bitcoin.
Next time someone tries to poo-poo the renewable credentials of Bitcoin mining, remember AmityAge Mining Farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and DuĆĄan Matuska, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity for mining.
Matuska, the man âwho met Satoshi Nakomoto,â told Cointelegraph that âMethane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.â As human and animal waste isnât running out any time soon, the facilityâs BTC mining process is both environmentally friendly and renewable.
Matuska and his colleague rigging up the Bitcoin miners in the plant. Source: Duƥan Matuska
According to Matuska, using renewable energies such as biogas âshows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewables and make their return on investment higher in the end,â while itâs also a cheap energy source.
An ecologically sound and low-cost way of generating electricity, biogas electricity plants convert waste into methane gas due to a fermentation process. The gas is then burned as fuel.
A steaming hot delivery of unmined Bitcoin, ready for energy transfer. Source: MatuskaÂ
Matt Lohstroh, co-founder of Giga Energy â a natural gas Bitcoin miner in Texas â told Cointelegraph that âfinding cheap energy [for Bitcoin mining] quickly is the largest issue. All the low-hanging fruit is being plucked away.â
Matuska added that âThe situation with energy in Europe changed dramatically in November with a huge price increasing together with a conflict around the corner.â As Lohstroh alludes, turning a profit with Bitcoin mining can be tricky, which keeps Matuska both âbusy and worried.â
However, an eternal optimist, Matuska also told Cointelegraph:
âThe most exciting part [about Bitcoin mining] is knowing that we are like âBitcoin security guys,â helping just a little with our hash rate. We are still helping to protect the network.â
Matuska added that the overall environmental âfootprint is pretty lowâ for the plant and that one of the excesses is âmostly excessive heat.â
Matuska, a "Bitcoin Security Guy," in front of the biogas facility. Source: Matuska
If he is looking for ideas for the excessive heat, he need look no further than the creative Bitcoin mining community, which uses the heat to warm campervans, grow flowers in the Netherlands and dry out timber from logging in Norway.
Matuska âdefinitelyâ recommends that more and more curious Bitcoiners get into Bitcoin mining:
âYou can gain a lot of useful knowledge while setting up your first miner. No need to earn a lot, but the experience is worth a fortune.â
Related:Â âHow I met Satoshiâ: The mission to teach 100M people about Bitcoin by 2030
For those interested in getting into Bitcoin mining at home, the process used to be complicated and costly, but solo mining is making a comeback. Compass Mining, the pioneers of Bitcoin mining at home, launched direct-to-consumer hardware sales in late 2021.Â
Whit Gibbs, CEO of Compass, told Cointelegraph that BTC miners are some of the biggest Bitcoin bulls. He illustrated the point: âYou could buy $10,000 worth of Bitcoin, or you can buy an ASIC (Bitcoin mining machine),â knowing full well that it should return the initial investment over a â12- to 14-monthâ period. He concluded:
âYou have to be bullish on Bitcoin to believe that youâre going to see that return in a timely manner as opposed to just buying that amount of Bitcoin outright.â
Disclaimer
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