In February, a video of a Bitcoin mining rig packed into a shipping container at a Texan oil well, powered by excess natural gas, went viral as thousands of people called out the Bitcoin mining company Giga Energy over what they saw as wanton environmental destruction.
In March of this year, Greenidge merged with IT company Support.com to become the first publicly-traded Bitcoin miner to generate its own electricity, though the plant began mining about 5.5 coins daily independently starting in March of 2020.
To that end, the two groups sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo on April 6 detailing their concerns—Cuomo’s action could set the tone for how closely the embattled administration follows its own 2019 Climate Act, which is looking to switch all of New York State over to emission-free electricity generation by 2040, and a 40 percent in greenhouse gas emissions statewide by 2030.
Greenidge is currently only using 19 megawatts of capacity and plans to ramp-up to full capacity by the end of 2022, which would put out about 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, 65 percent over the plant’s current permit allowance.
Even China, which accounts for 65-to-80 of the world’s mining power due to its low electricity costs, is beginning to crack down on cryptocurrency mining to hit its air pollution targets.