Energy from gas is a $16 billion opportunity – PermianChain exec
Natural gas is currently in high demand from Bitcoin mining companies and AI data center operators. Recovering energy from gas flaring could be a $16 billion opportunity, according to Mohamed El-Masry, managing partner at Hodler Investments and CEO of tokenized energy trading platform.
He said that by converting natural gas from gas-flaring, gas-flaring, to renewable energy, for mining operations and high-performance computing, much of the current gas demand can be met. El-Mesry told Cointelegraph:
“147,000,000,000m³ of natural gas is flared globally, which is equivalent to $16 billion in annual sales revenue or cash flow from selling this gas to the market.”
“Bitcoin mining has proven to be 12x the gas estimate or the equivalent price in MCF or MMBtu or whatever measure each country uses,” the executive explained. Converting trapped energy into a financial asset highlights the power of crypto mining and the sustainability of real-world assets.
Reducing emissions through Bitcoin is more efficient than using other methods to limit emissions. Source: K33 Research, Arcane
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Bitcoin mining unlocks unlimited energy and renewables.
Faced with ever-increasing hashrate and computational complexity, Bitcoin miners are constantly looking for new and underutilized forms of power to power their operations at low cost and remain competitive.
In May, a mining company known as Marathon Digital Holdings announced a partnership with the Kenyan government to boost the country's renewable energy sector.
According to the International Trade Administration (ITA), geothermal energy and hydroelectric power account for 41% and 30% of the African country's renewable energy.
A peer-reviewed scientific paper titled An Integrated Landfill Gas-to-Energy and Bitcoin Mining Framework was published in August and highlights how bitcoin mining can turn trapped energy into economic value.
The paper argues that Bitcoin miners can use a landfill-gas-to-power system to convert methane gas into electricity for their mining operations. This removes the harmful gas from the atmosphere, providing a low-cost and attractive source of energy for miners.
Energy conversion bound by mining also works in reverse. In June 2022, MARA announced that it would heat an entire city using excess recycled heat from its bitcoin mining facility in Finland.
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