The story of the Irish farmer who mines bitcoin using his cows

Although the title could be considered “trash”, it nevertheless relates very true information. Tom Campbell, an Irish farmer is the hero of a documentary made by Cointelegraph “The Bitcoin Farmer” which shows how a cattle breeder can, by setting up a bitcoin mining farm, finance a methanization plant.

The documentary of the man we now call the “bitcoin farmer”, produced by the newspaper CoinTelegraph, may surprise more than one person. Indeed, the story of Irish farmer Tom Campbell breaks the image that usually circulates about the significant energy consumption of bitcoin.

While the campaign of Greenpeace which aims to modify the Bitcoin code to make it more “ecological”, Bitcoin supporters defend themselves by showing all the new initiatives taken to reduce the environmental impact of the Bitcoin network. This tends to use ever more renewable energies as the report of the Bitcoin Mining Council, which amounts to more than 60%, in 2022.

Among these ecological initiatives, we find the bitcoin mining farm of Tom Campbell, based in Northern Ireland. The principle consists of installing biogas plants which transform biodegradable waste into energy. Thus, this energy produced is used to power a bitcoin farm, and thus produces a regular stream of income for the farmers.

Tom Campbell, the farmer who mines bitcoin with agricultural waste

The documentary “The Bitcoin Farmer” reveals the work of Tom Campbell, an Irish dairy farmer who mines bitcoin with renewable energy from biogas. Tom Campbell created his installation of methanization in partnership with the start-up Scilling Digital Mining, specializing in bitcoin mining using renewable energy. This then allows the farmer to have an anaerobic digestion plant where agricultural waste is converted into biogas and which in this process allows electricity to be produced at a lower cost.

The two entrepreneurs at the head of Schilling Digital Mining, Marc Morton and Steward Hosford, are convinced that bitcoin is a tool that can participate in the global transition to renewable energies. Although Bitcoin as an ecological solution is counterintuitive, entrepreneurs prove its efficiency with their methanization installations on Tom Campbell's farm.

💡 Biogas is a gas generally generated by the fermentation of organic elements under the action of microorganisms.. Anaerobic digestion (or bio-methanization or anaerobic digestion) refers to the fermentation process that occurs naturally in natural ecosystems (marshes, rice fields, intestines of mammals such as cows, etc.).

The problem Scilling Digital Mining solves goes beyond farmers. This is to enable the use of surplus electricity produced by small installations which would otherwise be wasted. This problem known as stranded assets (stranded assets) is due to the fact that small electrical structures do not export the electricity produced in the national network because this requires significant infrastructure costs.

This is where mining farms come into their own, as they exploit the excess electricity produced. Thus, Tom Campbell can then use this surplus energy to power bitcoin mining and thus generate income streams. It can also – and at the same time – sell part of the excess electricity to the Irish national network. Indeed, thanks to the process of methanization, the Campbell farm produces up to 700 kilowatts, which can power around 10,000 Irish homes with renewable energy.

A solution that reduces greenhouse gas emissions

In the “United Nations Environmental Program”, ecology experts say that reducing methane emissions is a powerful lever for preserving the environment. Experts believe that “ it only takes about ten years for methane to decompose. Therefore, reducing methane emissions now would have a short-term impact and is essential to help keep the world on a 1,5°C trajectory.”.

Let us recall that methane (CH₄) is “30 times more harmful in the atmosphere than CO2”, and that it is “after carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas".

Although carbon dioxide is much more abundant in the atmosphere than methane, methane traps approximately 30 times hotter than carbon dioxide. Methane is therefore a gas to monitor closely.

Let's Talk Science, Cows, Methane and Climate Change

🐄 The Irish government has set itself the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 25% by 2030. However, the Irish agricultural sector alone emits methane at the rate of 37% with 80% of methane emissions from farms, implying that the agricultural sector is the first to initiate change.

Anaerobic digestion is considered an optimal solution for breeders who wish to install anaerobic digestion plants but do not have the investment capital to do so. They could then set up a bitcoin mining farm to generate a steady stream of income that can fund their factories.

Thus, by creating a circular economy based on renewable energy, Irish farmers could reduce their gas emissions while generating green electricity for the Irish grid. Many farmers could benefit from this solution, which benefits both the environment, the farmers and thebitcoin ecosystem, in its entirety.

😇 For all people who are closely interested in the innovative solutions that bitcoin mining can provide, the documentary “The Bitcoin Farmer” produced in partnership with CoinTelegraph is a must. Don’t hesitate to share it with those around you.

For further :

• Cows, methane and climate change, published by Let's Talk Sciences
• Bitcoin Mining removes methane from the atmosphere, published in Bitcoin Magazine
• Methane emissions are the cause of climate change, UNEP
• How Bitcoin Mining Helps Oil Companies Reduce Their Environmental Impact?
• Here are the different ecological innovations used by bitcoin miners
• Growing tulips using bitcoin in the Netherlands