Canadian natural gas companies turn waste gas into treasure. BTC mining once again plays the role of the last buyer of energy

Canadian gas companies are now tapping into vast reserves of natural gas to mine Bitcoin, creating a useful use for these illiquid energy sources that would otherwise burn into the atmosphere, Bitcoinist reported July 13.

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Why Natural Gas Can Be Used for Bitcoin Mining
Natural gas companies in Alberta, Canada are developing ways to use natural gas to power Bitcoin mining farms. The news was revealed by Francis Pouliot of Canadian Bitcoin mining company Bull Bitcoin.
Pouliot tweeted on Wednesday (July 10, 2019) that this trend could be very good for natural gas companies. An excerpt from the tweet is as follows:

“Bitcoin solves a huge problem for the owners of over 1,000 natural gas wells. The need to monetize illiquid energy reserves is overwhelming.”

As natural gas prices have fallen in recent years, gas well operators have lost incentive to collect and transport natural gas. To maintain pressure downhole, some gas needs to be pumped out.
The end result is that natural gas is continuously burned into the air without any energy recovery.
Bitcoin mining encourages energy efficiency
However, well operators cannot flare natural gas indefinitely because environmental regulators often have strict limits. Once a threshold is reached, the well must be shut down.
Now, gas companies have another option – install Bitcoin ASIC miners and use natural gas to power the process.
This finding also confirms the concept of Bitcoin mining as the “energy buyer of last resort” pointed out by Coinshares in its latest report.
As Bitcoinist reported, Coinshares said renewable energy accounts for more than 74% of global Bitcoin mining activity.
The findings also contradict the common narrative of “polluting the environment” offered by critics: Bitcoin mining is motivating companies to find greener ways to process oil and gas.
More natural gas to power bitcoin mining farms means less carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from oil and gas extraction.
Promote further decentralization of mining
The entry of North American oil and gas exploration companies into the Bitcoin mining business will also further promote the decentralization of the field. Globally, China remains at the center of the Bitcoin mining industry .
Bitmain’s fortunes reversed in the second half of 2018, with its dominance declining significantly, though the company recently announced plans to scale up its operations in China.
As the 2020 Bitcoin block reward halving approaches, miners are trying to take a larger share of Bitcoin's total computing power. As a result, the computing power has grown at an astonishing rate, reaching more than 70EH/s. (Babit)