Gas powers bitcoin mine
An AMBITIOUS $250,000 pilot program to use gas wells in southwest Queensland to power Bitcoin mining could start within weeks.
In a move that has concerned environmental groups and farmers, Canadian company Bengal Energy has secured permits from the state government to take charge of a disused well near Eromanga and use it to power a donga full of computers that will create cryptocurrency.
The site, which was originally mined by Santos before being sold to Bengal, will send untapped natural gas to a generator, creating electricity for the tiny cabin of “miners”.
These computing systems are equipped with specialised chips and compete to solve mathematical puzzles, with the winners awarded Bitcoin that can be added to the end of the virtual blockchain.
This process, which is called proof of work and is replicated by systems all over the world, requires consistent energy to power it.
Bengal Energy COO Kai Eberspaecher said the pilot program used the space of two standard garden sheds, would consume 100 kilowatt hours of power and be connected via the NBN’s SkyMesh satellite.
Mr Eberspaecher said the miners would generate $300 in Bitcoin every day, which he says was more than the electricity and internet costs.
“We had a deal to purchase the wells outright, they’re 100 per cent owned and operated by Bengal,” he said.
“We were looking after processes that need a constant feed of electricity, and we landed on bitcoin mining.”
Mr Eberspaecher said while remote Bitcoin mining operations were not uncommon, it was rare in a climate as hot as Outback Queensland.
“Managing the heat in those containers is really important, (as well as) how much you need to cool the machines, and dust protection,” he said.
“That area can be wild in terms of rain and storms, that’s all something we’re going to learn about.”
If successful, Mr Eberspaecher said it could be expanded across both the Cooper and Surat Basins.
“Where we want to be is provide data-centred services for people who want to place their miners with us, and we charge them for the electricity and satellite,” he said.
“It could be for anything, but the people who are here want to mine cryptocurrency.
Anti-gas group Lock The Gate’s Ellie Smith said the project could set a precedence for a new industry, further damaging the environment and producing carbon emissions.
“It is madness that companies are talking about plonking fossil gas-sucking, Bitcoin mining dongas on the edge of some of the last free-flowing desert rivers on the planet.”
Former Channel Country grazier Angus Emmott, who is also a board member of Farmers for Climate Action, said he blamed the state government for failing to curb the rate of gas exploration in the Cooper Basin.