On August 9, Vespene Energy, a company that uses methane from landfills to fuel bitcoin miners, announced that the company has raised $430 Announcing that it had raised $3 million, Vespene aims to use the funds to pilot operations in California by using methane from landfills to mine bitcoin and “mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Vespene Energy raised $4.3M in a funding round led by Polychain Capital, and the company aims to give landfill owners the ability to monetize landfill methane
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Vespene Energy announced that the company has raised 4.3 million from a funding round led by Polychain Capital, the company announced.according to the company’s website. The startup converts landfill methane into bitcoin value without the need for grid connections or pipeline construction; Vespene is essentially setting up an on-site data center powered by microturbines and deriving energy from methane in municipal landfills.
This gives landfill owners the ability to monetize their landfill methane and “reduce routine flaring and maintenance costs,” according to Vespene’s product brief. founder and CEO of Polychain Capital, Olaf Carlson-Wee said Tuesday that he believes the continued adoption of bitcoin will benefit from solutions like Vespene Energy’s products.
“We are excited to partner with Vespene as they are building creative solutions to eliminate powerful greenhouse gas sources using mining and make their energy mix more environmentally friendly.” Polychain Capital’s founder said in a statement that Vespene Energy’s funding round comes at a time when there is a lot of negative attention on Bitcoin’s proof-of-work agreement mechanism and the energy used by the network.
While much of the negative attention has been misplaced, many companies are helping the environment by using flare gas emissions to power their bitcoin mining facilities. In fact, at the end of May, Geneias CEO and ESG analyst Daniel Batten published a report indicating that bitcoin mining could make a significant contribution to the environment, and Batten’s research further suggests that bitcoin mining is probably the best way to reduce methane, and that it is the best way to reduce and could eliminate 5.32% of the world’s carbon emissions.
In addition to flare gas mitigation company Vespene Energy, companies such as Crusoe Energy, Greenidge Generation, Upstream Data, and EZ Blockchain are converting flare gas emissions intoBTCconversion; Crusoe has secured $505 million in capital in April 2022; and gas giants such as Exxon Mobil, Equinor, and Conocophillips are reportedly working on gas-to-bitcoin solutions
Compass Mining has also released a documentaryvideoon the relationship between bitcoin mining and Wyoming’s oil and gas industry. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. landfills are responsible for 15% of methane emissions, but according tostudiesthat number could be much higher. According to the company’s website, Vespene’s technology reduces methane, VOC, CO2, and NOX emissions.
“Our goal is to mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate the transition to a renewable energy future by using bitcoin mining to turn landfill methane streams into revenue streams for our customers,” Vespene co-founder and CEO Adam Wright stated. Wright concludes.
Our sites do not require connection to the grid or the construction of pipelines, allowing us to quickly turn otherwise harmful and wasteful landfill methane into a clean power source for carbon negative bitcoin mining.
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