Today, Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), a leader in bitcoin mining, launched an innovative pilot project to recycle the heat generated by bitcoin mining to heat a community in Finland. The 2-megawatt data center, which became operational at the end of May, is located in the Satakunta region, home to 11,000 inhabitants.
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JUST IN: Marathon is now heating a city of more than 11,000 inhabitants in Finland using heat from twitter.com/hashtag/bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin mining
– bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1803861222372126763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 20, 2024
“This pilot project in Finland is a critical step in our strategy to expand globally and innovate sustainably,” said Fred Thiel, President and CEO of Marathon. “We are not only producing digital assets; We are heating homes and integrating sustainable practices into our business model. “We believe this type of innovation can drive the advancement of the digital asset computing industry and further strengthen Marathon’s leadership position in the field.”
The initiative marks Marathon's first district heating project and its debut in Europe. District heating involves heating water centrally and distributing it through underground pipes to heat local buildings. Finland, known for its clean energy mix, relies heavily on biomass for district heating. By using heat from digital asset data centers, the project aims to reduce carbon emissions and operating costs.
“Europe's colder climate has given rise to an extensive network of district heating systems that provide heat to millions of residents,” Marathon said in its new Heating with Hashes report, published in full below. “This same climate has attracted a different industry (data centers) that benefit from lower energy consumption and infrastructure costs associated with colder temperatures. The proportion of electricity consumed by data centers in the EU is at least double the global average, with data centers accounting for around 3% of EU electricity consumption compared to 1.0-1.5% globally. These energy-intensive facilities generate 3 quantities. significant heat generation, creating a unique opportunity for strategic partnerships with district heating systems.
“One industry needs heat, while the other generates a lot of it,” Marathon continues in the report. “Instead of wasting the abundant heat produced by data centers, it could be recycled to meet heating demand. This innovation transforms an unwanted byproduct of data centers into a valuable resource for district heating systems, reducing costs and waste for all involved while reducing the need for inefficient, carbon-emitting heat sources.
The project is part of Marathon's broader commitment to sustainability, expanding its presence to twelve sites on four continents. According to Future Market Insights Inc, the district heating market is projected to grow from $198 billion to $340 billion by 2033, offering significant growth opportunities. By recycling heat, Marathon aims to enhance its sustainability portfolio and explore new revenue streams, aligning with its goal of achieving zero-cost energy for digital asset computing.
“Following the success of our pilot project in Utah, where we demonstrated that it is economically viable and environmentally beneficial to use landfill gas for digital asset computing, we have continued to experiment with innovative ways in which our operations can add value beyond securing the distributed ledgers, like bitcoin,” said Adam Swick, chief growth officer at Marathon. “This pilot project in Finland is our first attempt to convert the heat we produce as a byproduct of our operations into a valuable resource for a local community. We look forward to collecting more data from this project as we look for additional ways to leverage digital asset computing to build a more sustainable future”.
To learn more about Marathon's sustainability initiatives, visit their website. here. Those interested in reading Marathon's full Heating with Hashes report can do so below:
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