Heat Output From Bitcoin Mining to be Used by Buildings in North Vancouver

Starting next year, MintGreen, a clean-technology cryptocurrency miner headquartered in Canada, will work with the Lonsdale Energy Corporation to provide heat to residents of North Vancouver, British Columbia. When it announced its agreement with North Vancouver on Thursday, MintGreen said that its “digital boilers,” which it says can recapture over 96% of the energy needed for Bitcoin (BTC) mining, would avoid 20,000 metric tons of greenhouse emissions per megawatt from entering the environment. The reclaimed energy will be able to heat up to 100 residential and commercial buildings in the city with a population of around 155,000.

The collaboration, according to MintGreen CEO Colin Sullivan, would address climate change-related problems. Approximately 38% of urban carbon dioxide emissions are attributed to building work and construction activities, as per the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction’s December 2020 study.

To keep warm in the winter, cryptocurrency aficionados have resorted to their mining rigs. The Vancouver Island Sea Salt plant and the Shelter Point Distillery in Canada have previously collaborated with MintGreen to buy their heat output from BTC mining and use it to power portions of their business.

According to MintGreen, the project will get underway in 2022, just in time for another brutal Canadian winter. North Vancouver has seen lows of around -20°C.