Marathon Digital Trash Methane Uses Bitcoin in Utah Pilot Project
Marathon Digital has started mining Bitcoin (BTC) using energy generated by methane gas extracted from landfills. A 280-kW off-grid pilot project is operating in Utah.
Marathon has partnered with Nodal Power on the project. Nodal Power, launched in November 2022, will generate energy from landfill gas in the southeastern United States and Texas. In August, it raised $13 million in a seed round to operate two sites, one of which will include a data center.
Marathon said in a statement that the project is part of a broader initiative by the company to demonstrate its ability to capture methane from landfills, convert it into electricity, and use that electricity to power Bitcoin miners. Marathon CEO Fred Thiel said:
“If the results of the pilot project exceed our expectations, we look forward to expanding our footprint in this area and helping landfill operators and others meet environmental targets.”
Bitcoin miners are actively looking for new green mining solutions. Genesis Digital Assets Ltd., for example, established an 8-MW facility using hydropower in Sweden in August.
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Marathon cut the ribbon on a 200-MW immersion-cooled facility in Abu Dhabi's sustainable Masdar City in late October. That month, he announced that crypto-mining on landfills would be implemented, with many benefits for miners and landfill owners, as well as the environment. According to the United Nations, methane is more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.
#Bitcoin is incentivized to harness wasted renewable energy and we're honored to be a pilot at MarathonDH https://t.co/BxC8O84SWh .
— Nodal (@NodalPower) November 2, 2023
Marathon generated a record 2,926 bitcoins in the quarter, but this year's second-quarter earnings fell even lower. Q2 revenue grew 228 percent year-over-year to $132.8 million.
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