The mining industry has traditionally been vilified for its environmental impact and energy use. This article describes the industry where mining can have an immediate positive impact: fossil fuel operations.
Background
The run-up to November 2023's COP28 in Dubai has seen a flurry of activity from the world's three largest economies on the issue of methane in the energy sector. That month, China published its long-awaited Action plan to control methane emissionsfollowed by China-U.S. Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Tackle the Climate Crisis and the European Council and Parliament announcing an agreement on new rules to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector. Prolific broadcasters, such as Kazakhstan and TurkmenistanThey joined the 150 signatories of the Global methane commitment.
The momentum continued, with 50 oil and gas companies representing 40% of global oil production signing the Oil and gas decarbonization charter and commit to ending methane emissions and routine gas flaring by 2030.
Finally, the world is waking up to the fact that if we are to have any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050, we must act decisively to stop the emission and burning of methane from the global oil, gas and charcoal. .
But amidst the enthusiasm, it is forgotten that reducing the burning and ventilation of methane necessarily implies capturing and using it. One question no one seems to be asking is what to do with all this methane.
The bad and the ugly of fossil fuel methane
Atmospheric methane emissions have tripled since the start of the industrial revolution, and are thought to be responsible for 0.5 degrees of the 1 degree warming we have seen to date. The International Panel on Climate Change says that if we are to have any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050, we must We must act decisively on methane..
He Estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) methane tracker that one third of man-made methane emissions come from the production, transportation and use of fossil fuels. This adds up to around 120 million tonnes of methane a year, split evenly between the oil, gas and coal industries. The impact is equivalent to 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide, more than the USA' and of the EU Combined CO2 emissions.
He The IEA Net Zero 2050 Roadmap states that to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the energy sector must reduce its methane emissions by 75% by 2030, mainly through “the rapid deployment of measures and technologies to eliminate avoidable methane emissions by 2030.”
He Methane tracker shows that 75% of global fossil fuel methane emissions come from 10 regions:
The Potential Role of bitcoin Mining in Reducing Greenhouse Gases
In September 2022, White House Office of Science and technology Policy published a report on crypto-Assets-and-Climate-Report.pdf”>Climate and energy implications of cryptoassets in the United States. One of the conclusions of the report was that “cryptoasset mining operations that capture vented methane to produce electricity can produce positive results for the climate, by converting the potent methane into CO2 during combustion…; “could potentially be more reliable and more efficient at converting methane to CO2 (than burning it)… and… is more likely to help rather than hinder US climate goals.”
He IPCC estimates that in 20 years, one ton of methane will have an impact on climate change equivalent to 80 tons of carbon dioxide. Hiveon, a premier mining product suite, estimates that using methane that would otherwise be vented to generate the electricity needed to produce one bitcoin would lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 6,000 tons of CO2, or the annual emissions of 1,400 passengers. cars in USA
“We recognize the carbon emissions of the crypto industry, but we also believe in its ability to act as an important tool in the fight against climate change. That's why we launched hive energy, a project at the intersection of the blockchain field and traditional energy industries. “It is our contribution to making mining more sustainable while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” – Andrii Garanin, Vice President of Hiveon Energy.
Just 1 MW of bitcoin mining equipment could destroy over 800 tons of methane annually, providing greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to a typical 140 MW solar installation in the US. Given that the global bitcoin industry alone requires between 10 and 15 GW of power generation capacity, has enormous potential to reduce methane emissions.
Why mining
He IEA estimates that it is possible to capture and use 75% of the methane from oil and gas production and around 50% from coal. Methane is a valuable commodity, but there is a reason why much of it is vented rather than sold or used.
This is because most of the methane vented from the energy sector is almost by definition stranded gas. Fossil fuel operators are motivated by profit, so if they had a way to monetize wasted methane, they would have used it.
Vented methane comes from regions such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, the Middle East, Caspian, etc. These regions are already massive producers of fossil fuels, so they have few natural gas customers. It must be transported to customers as LNG, through pipelines or as electricity, which involves large investments in infrastructure, as well as significant legal, regulatory and commercial barriers.
These investments have long payback periods, making them challenging in the current context where the world needs to rapidly reduce its fossil fuel production.
The mining industry can act as a global buyer of stranded natural gas. Miners do not need access to the grid or energy markets: just a gas supply, land and an Internet connection.
Most importantly, since these projects can use modular and mobile solutions, the equipment can be easily and economically moved in the event of localized problems related to gas supply or power demand.
Whats Next?
Without a doubt, the global crypto industry is a large consumer of electricity, some of which comes from burning fossil fuels. But it is also a major potential customer for methane that would otherwise be vented, providing a huge opportunity to reduce methane emissions globally.
The main barrier is the lack of knowledge on the part of global policy makers and the mining industry about the operation of said company. Despite the challenges, we need policies that promote the use of vented gas, or at least do not hinder it through regulations such as blanket mining bans.
As Dr. Sultan Al Jaber stated, “The world will collapse if we do not repair the energies we use today. “The world will collapse if we don’t mitigate gigaton-scale emissions.”
This is a guest post by Andrii Garanin. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.