US Senator, Ted Cruz, has proposed using natural gas to mine bitcoin instead of this energy going to waste. The senator stated that crypto-mining could help to monetise energy generated through oil and gas mining activities.
The senator was giving a speech during the Texas Blockchain Summit held on October 8. Nic Carter, the founder of Coin Metrics, gave a transcription of the speech stating that 50% of the natural gas flared in the US was burned in West Texas.
Transcribed Sen. Ted Cruz’ comments on Bitcoin and energy from the Texas Blockchain Summit this week. My jaw dropped while listening – he has the most enlightened perspective on the issue I’ve ever come across from a policymaker pic.twitter.com/iu90oukr2w
— nic carter (@nic__carter) October 10, 2021
Use Wasted Energy to Mine Bitcoin
“It’s being wasted because there is no transmission equipment to get that natural gas where it could be used the way natural gas would ordinarily be employed,” the senator noted. “Use that power to mine Bitcoin. Part of the beauty of that is the instant you’re doing it, you’re helping the environment enormously because rather than flaring the natural gas, you’re putting it to productive use.”
Cruz further noted that activities surrounding Bitcoin mining could be structured in such a way that they respond to the changing energy supply. He also noted that energy could be taken off mining and reassigned to the power grid in case of shortage or outages.
Cruz also stated that in five years, he expected the environment surrounding Bitcoin mining to change so that these activities would strengthen the power grid. Through Bitcoin mining, countries could use the unused energy globally, even countries that receive a lot of sun and wind but do not have the economic resources to tap into this energy.
“The beauty of Bitcoin mining is that you can connect to the internet; you can use that energy and derive value from those renewables in a way that would be impossible otherwise,” Cruz stated.
Using Renewable Energy to Mine Bitcoin
Cruz joins the number of people who believe that Bitcoin could incentivise the renewable energy sector. El Salvador recently stated that it had created a Bitcoin mining rig that used volcanic energy to mine Bitcoin. The mining rig recently mined its first Bitcoin.
The China crackdown on mining has made Texas a preferable hub for Bitcoin mining due to the state’s access to cheap and abundant renewable energy sources. Furthermore, Texas’ favourable crypto laws have also made many miners and crypto firms set hubs in the state.
Other countries that have also become top destinations for mining include Canada, Kazakhstan and Norway, which offer access to cheap renewable energy.
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