Bitcoiner Environmental Friendly Solutions In The Netherlands Take Advantage Of Bitcoin Hot Mining For Warehouse Warmers

JAKARTA - This is another win for Bitcoin miners and the environment. A Dutch Bitcoiner has installed a bitcoin mine in a warehouse to replace a natural gas-powered heating system.

This he does because it is cheaper, more environmentally friendly and uses solar power.

Bert de Groot is the founder of Bitcoin Brabant, a Dutch company that helps business adopt Bitcoin standards. He is always looking for unused energy sources, and the way Bitcoin mining can improve business efficiency while saving money and the planet.

Our latest installation is heating up a warehouse with electricity, not natural gas. We have installed manual valves to guide the airflow. The sound has been weakened below 40db with a large absorber. People working in the warehouse enjoy warm temperatures and low sounds," said Bitcoin Brabant in a post on Twitter October 5, 2022.

In the greenhouse this year, for example, de Groot installed Bitcoin miners to keep the temperature perfect so that flowers bloom while reducing dependence on natural gas pollution. So naturally, when de Groot finds out that warehouse owners have 50 megawatt hours (MW/h) of electricity remaining while their natural gas heating bill is soaring, he feels the opportunity to mine Bitcoin.

Our latest installation heats a warehouse with electricity instead of natural gas. We’ve installed manual valves to guide airflow. The sound has been attenuated under 40db with a large damper. The people that work in the warehouse enjoy the warm temperature and low sound. pic.twitter.com/fcdEUlqiuN

— Bitcoin Brabant (@BitcoinBrabant) October 5, 2022

De Groot told Cointelegraph that the warehouse has a 50 MW/hour electrical surplus from the solar panel installation on the roof. "That's quite a lot," he joked.

The roof panel powers warehouse operations but the company burns natural gas to warm the warehouse. Worse yet, despite having an energy surplus that can be sold to other networks, network controllers in the Netherlands do not value the contribution of backup electricity capacity. Even if it is solar energy.

You put so much solar power on the roof and you don't get anything back for extra that you put back on the grid. So all we do is put in Bitcoin mining," said De Groot.

De Groot installed a Bitmain Antminer S19j Pro (104Th), a special integrated circuit for the (ASIC) application that consumes about 25 MW/hour per year. He lives in "Bazooka," a housing estate that spews hot air to heat up the entire warehouse. Because it is a Bitcoin miner, not only generates heat but also income for breaking valid blocks on Bitcoin blockchain.

The introduction of Bitcoin miners solves three problems: First, Bitcoin miners are an effective way to exploit excess renewable energy for something profitable. Second, Bitcoin miners generate large amounts of heat, which can be used such as within reach if used properly. Third, while natural gas fires to heat up warehouses cause pollution, solar-powered Bitcoin miners are environmentally friendly.

Currently, natural gas prices in Europe are soaring due to scarcity. As a result, warehouse heating costs continue to increase. Solar energy, in comparison, is abundant and once the initial cost pays off, solar energy is almost free. To end everything, the warehouse's carbon footprint is now negative.

So we've [fired] a lot of natural gas and existing electricity, renewable ones. So, we're basically turning to a carbon-negative warehouse with heating, added De Groot.

In numbers, the shift from natural gas heaters to Bitcoin miners will prevent the burning of 2,000 cubic meters of gas annually, equivalent to roughly one-and-a-half households from the Dutch average.

Even better, Bitcoin miners pump out heat constantly. This is ideal for winter in the Netherlands where temperatures sit between 0 and 6 degrees Celsius. This is certainly the opponent of the intermitent natural gas heater.

The solution is victory for warehouses, the environment, and for Bitcoin. In a tweet, de Groot shared, Bazooka version 8, is now running smoothly. Thank you for all your support for being able to keep the business warm while natural gas prices are very high.

So, perhaps, the phone call de Groot must have been because warehouse owners across the country got the wind from the hot revolution of Bitcoin miners.

In its network [the warehouse owner], everyone thinks he's crazy. So, let's see in a few months when it becomes winter, like the right winter, what happened," De Groot said.

De Groot remains optimistic about the future of Bitcoin miners who are used as hot sources so he keeps some ASIC. I hope more will come. You know, the colder it is, [the price of natural gas] is getting more expensive. This is beneficial for businesses to do so," he concluded.