An anonymous reader shared this report from CNBC:
[T]he computing power of crypto mining generates a lot of
heat, most which just ends up vented into the air. According to
digital assets brokerage, K33, the bitcoin mining industry generates about 100 TWh of heat annually — enough to heat all of
Finland.This energy waste within a very energy-intense
industry is leading entrepreneurs to look for ways to repurpose
the heat for homes, offices, or other locations, especially in colder
weather months.
During a frigid snap earlier this year, The
New York Times reviewed HeatTrio, a $900 space heater that also
doubles as a bitcoin mining rig. Others use the heat from their own
in-home cryptocurrency mining to spread warmth throughout their
house. "I've seen bitcoin rigs running quietly in attics, with
the heat they generate rerouted through the home's ventilation
system to offset heating costs. It's a clever use of what would
otherwise be wasted energy," said Jill Ford, CEO of Bitford
Digital, a sustainable bitcoin mining company based in Dallas...
"Same price as heating the house, but the perk is that you are
mining bitcoin," Ford said...
The crypto-heated future may be unfolding in the town of Challis,
Idaho, where Cade Peterson's company, Softwarm, is repurposing
bitcoin heat to ward off the winter. Several shops and businesses in
town are experimenting with Softwarm's rigs to mine and heat. At TC
Car, Truck and RV Wash, Peterson says, the owner was spending $25 a
day to heat his wash bays to melt snow and warm up the water.
"Traditional heaters would consume energy with no returns. They
installed bitcoin miners and it produces more money in bitcoin than
it costs to run," Peterson said. Meanwhile, an industrial concrete
company is offsetting its $1,000 a month bill to heat its
2,500-gallon water tank by heating it with bitcoin. Peterson has
heated his own home for two-and-a-half years using bitcoin mining
equipment and believes that heat will power almost everything in the
future. "You will go to Home Depot in a few years and buy a water
heater with a data port on it and your water will be heated with
bitcoin," Peterson said.
Derek Mohr, clinical associate professor at the University of
Rochester Simon School of Business, remains skeptical.
Bitcoin mining is so specialized now that a home computer, or even
network of home computers, would have almost zero chance of being
helpful in mining a block of bitcoin, according to Mohr, with mining
farms use of specialized chips that are created to mine bitcoin much
faster than a home computer... "The bitcoin heat devices I have
seen appear to be simple space heaters that use your own electricity
to heat the room..."
CNBC also spoke to Andrew Sobko, founder of Argentum AI (which is
building a marketplace for sharing computing power), who says the
idea makes the most sense in larger settings. "We're working
with partners who are already redirecting compute heat into building
heating systems and even agricultural greenhouse warming. That's
where the economics and environmental benefits make real sense.
Instead of trying to move the heat physically, you move the compute
closer to where that heat provides value."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Connexion
