U.S. international oil and gas company ConocoPhilips is working to eliminate the practice of wasted burning by selling leftover oil drilling products to Bitcoin (BTC) mining.
Launching from the cointelegraph.com page, Thursday (2/17/2022) the company will operate a pilot scheme in the oil-rich Bakken region, North Dakota, United States.
The company will sell a byproduct of oil drilling called flaring to Bitcoin miners for use as fuel.
A company representative said ConocoPhilips' decision to jump into Bitcoin miners was an attempt to reduce and eliminate routine burning as early as possible, no later than 2030.
The company also stated that it has a focus on ensuring gas capture projects can reach zero flares (flaring) by 2025. Bitcoin miners offer unique and profitable solutions to the impacts and problems that result from routine combustion, when companies drill for oil.
While oil can be siphoned off and collected in any location, natural gas requires pipeline infrastructure.
When companies are required to burn gas that could harm the environment, Bitcoin miners will not allow wasted gas to be wasted by placing containers filled with crypto mining equipment near oil wells and using those gases to move generators that power their equipment.
In addition to ConocoPhilips, another U.S.-based oil and gas company, Crusoe Energy is also leveraging Botcoin mining as one way to reduce emissions, with about 60 bitcoin data centers and mining units having been powered by natural gas diverted to their oil fields.
According to a report from Argus media, Crusoe Energy's technology lowers CO2 equivalent emissions by as much as 63 percent when compared to regular routine combustion.