Coal Waste Used To Power Crypto In Pennsylvania

A western Pennsylvania-based company is using waste left behind by old coal power plants to generate electricity to power supercomputers used in bitcoin mining

As cryptocurrencies explode in popularity, so has the amount of electricity required to mine the digital tokens, which raises concerns about the impact crypto has on the environment.

But for Stronghold Digital Mining, a company based in western Pennsylvania, mining bitcoin could actually be a way to reduce environmental waste and clean up their community.

The company burns leftover harmful waste from abandoned coal mines to generate the electricity that powers hundreds of supercomputers running around the clock to mint bitcoin – an imperfect solution to energy generation but one that mitigates a century-old coal waste problem in Pennsylvania.

Stronghold CEO, Greg Beard says there are more than 800 abandoned coal mining sites in Pennsylvania that are overrun with coal ash – the byproduct from burning coal to produce electricity.

Coal ash can leach into groundwater and pollute waterways, and contains heavy metals considered by many to be carcinogens.

Stronghold collects coal ash from the bygone mine and processes it at a waste coal processing facility where it is sorted, crushed, and burned to generate the electricity to power the company’s bitcoin mining operation.

Beard acknowledges that Stronghold’s solution to mine bitcoin using coal waste isn’t perfect as burning coal ash also releases carbon into the atmosphere.

Still, he noted that because the existing coal waste is extremely combustible, much of the ash would end up catching fire and burning regardless of collection.

Beard says that processing the coal ash removes some of the harmful chemical content, plus he says his business has created hundreds of new jobs in the region.