Burning natural gas for Bitcoin a terrible choice

Gavin Donohue in his commentary, “There's a role for natural gas in the renewable-energy future,” March 2, lauded Greenidge as a model of innovation. I will agree with him that conversion from coal to natural gas for a power plant is a good change. And maybe natural gas has a role as we transition to green power sources. But burning natural gas for Bitcoin in an inefficient power plant isn’t innovative. It’s a waste, and it’s not the mission of the New York State Climate Action Council of which Donohue is a member.

The website climate.ny .gov states: “Our future is at stake. That's why New York state is committed to the most aggressive clean energy and climate agenda in the country.”

The mission of the Climate Action Council is to find innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gases. The proposed Greenidge Bitcoin expansion to add more servers is in no way aligned with this vision. It does nothing to improve our future or benefit New Yorkers. It benefits Atlas Holdings of Connecticut, Greenidge's parent company. The site already operates at 20 megawatts and has now been approved to use up to 106 megawatts, which would be the equivalent of powering thousands of homes. That would make the carbon dioxide mountain we need to climb to overcome climate change even higher.

New York committed to its “groundbreaking climate legislation” in 2019. Now, in 2021, it is allowing Greenidge to expand and generate more carbon dioxide and potentially harm our beautiful Seneca Lake. That is not the kind of climate crisis leadership that New Yorkers deserve. Mark Petzold

Geneva Volunteer, Seneca Lake Guardian