LFG Learnings Report: Digital Asset Computing Is an Economically Viable Approach to Reducing Landfill Methane Emissions
Summary
On this examine, we reveal that it’s not solely possible however economically viable and environmentally useful to use landfill gasoline (LFG) for digital asset compute (e.g., Bitcoin mining). To assist this principle, Marathon partnered with Nodal Energy to harness extra capability from their challenge, which is solely powered by landfill methane gasoline. This partnership, leveraging Nodal’s patented know-how, efficiently utilized methane from a landfill, transformed it into electrical energy, and used it to energy the on-site information heart. This course of proved to be persistently dependable, with excessive uptime and emerged financially useful for Marathon and Nodal. The price of electrical energy was considerably decrease than the {industry} common, and the landfill generated income from a beforehand untapped useful resource that may in any other case have been wasted. Moreover, powering compute with landfill gasoline effectively decreased methane emissions. In eventualities the place the landfill would have resorted to flaring the methane, digital asset compute proved to be simpler in mitigating emissions.
This pilot challenge was Marathon’s first profitable take a look at run of “energy harvesting,” which incorporates initiatives devoted to changing waste into vitality, methane gasoline recapture, stabilizing vitality grids by using stranded or extra vitality, and reusing warmth generated by information facilities for industrial and business functions.
Introduction
Methane is a potent greenhouse gasoline with a worldwide warming potential 80 instances higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year interval. In accordance to the Global Methane Assessment, “achieving methane emissions reductions in the next decade will keep the planet significantly cooler than attempts to cut carbon dioxide emissions alone.” In our Cashing in on Trash report, we cited that landfills are chargeable for 11% of worldwide methane emissions, with current research suggesting that these emissions may be 1.4 to 2.6 instances larger than beforehand estimated.
Recognizing that landfills are main emitters of methane, we believed there was an alternative to make landfills extra sustainable with our digital asset compute applied sciences. Giant landfills able to producing adequate portions of methane have the choice to economically cut back their emissions via waste-to-energy conversion applied sciences. These websites can convert captured methane into two types of sustainable vitality: 1) electrical energy, which could be bought to the grid, and a pair of) renewable pure gasoline (RNG), which could be distributed via pipelines. Sadly, conventional waste-to-energy conversion strategies are sometimes not possible or economical for smaller or extra distant landfills. In our report, we proposed a extra viable, win-win resolution that we believed was possible immediately for smaller landfills: seize methane from landfills, convert it into electrical energy, and energy digital asset information facilities to economically cut back methane emissions.
To check our principle, Marathon launched a pilot challenge by becoming a member of Nodal’s off-grid digital asset compute facility to energy a Bitcoin information heart with 100% renewable, off-grid vitality from a landfill.
Pilot Particulars
- Location: Utah, USA
- Launch Date: September 27, 2023
- Pilot Standing: On-going
- Length: 240+ days
- Capability: 270 kW
- Computing Gear: 83 S19J Execs
- Operational Hash Price (computing energy): 8.3 PH/s
Determine 1: Marathon’s and Nodal’s Venture
The outcomes from this pilot supported our preliminary principle. Marathon and Nodal utilized methane from the landfill and transformed it into electrical energy to energy a digital asset information heart. The landfill efficiently decreased its methane emissions whereas producing a income stream it in any other case couldn’t have earned. Marathon and Nodal realized an vitality price considerably under the {industry} common and maintained an above-average operational uptime. Moreover, this was Marathon’s first profitable trial of “energy harvesting,” marking a major milestone in our growth of sustainable and inclusive vitality tasks. These tasks embrace changing waste into vitality, methane gasoline recapture, stabilizing the vitality grid by using stranded or extra vitality, and reusing warmth generated by mining techniques for industrial and business processes.
Definitions and Calculations of Key Metrics
Throughout our pilot challenge, we tracked numerous metrics to consider the effectiveness and impression of our operations. The next are the important thing metrics used on this report, every outlined with its definition and calculation methodology.
Common Operational Hash Price
The typical hash price or computing energy that was generated throughout a selected time interval from all operational digital asset computing units, measured in petahashes per second (PH/s).
Pool reported hash price per day / Whole days
Operational Uptime
The proportion of time that the computing units have been purposeful and actively working.
Operational uptime = Minutes with pool reported hash price / Whole minutes
Methane Utilized
The quantity of methane gasoline (CH4) that was harnessed for era, measured in Commonplace Cubic Toes (SCF).
CH4 utilized (SCF) = Common petahash (PH/s) × Methane utilization price (SCF/PH/s/Day) × Days
Carbon Dioxide Equal Emissions (C02e)
CO2e quantifies the worldwide warming impression of varied greenhouse gases, like methane, by evaluating their impact to that of an equal quantity of carbon dioxide. This comparability relies on every gasoline’s International Warming Potential (GWP), an element that represents the comparative warming impact of a unit of the gasoline relative to the identical unit of CO2 over a selected timeframe. We used a GWP timeline of 20 years (issue: 84) and 100 years (issue: 28).
C02e = CH4 kilos utilized * GWP issue
Notice: We assumed one SCF of CH4 equals 0.045 kilos at one environment and 80 levels Fahrenheit.
Common Gas Price per Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
The typical price of electrical energy per kWh consists of operational and upkeep bills.
Common Gas Price per kWh =
(SCF × 0.001002 dekatherms per SCF × methane content material proportion × price per dekatherm / kwh) + (operations and upkeep price / kWh)
Outcomes
The outcomes introduced on this part replicate the primary 240 days of the pilot challenge, spanning from September 27, 2023, to Could 24, 2024. It can be crucial to word that these findings don’t embody your entire length of the challenge however focus particularly on this era.
Methane Utilized
Over the course of 240 days, we utilized roughly 16.1 million SCF of methane. This determine was estimated from the each day utilization price, which was roughly 8,400 SCF of methane for every petahash operational.
Had we not harnessed this methane, the landfill would have flared it. Whereas flaring does cut back the worldwide warming potential of methane by changing it into carbon dioxide, it’s only about 92% environment friendly. On common, 8% of flared methane nonetheless escapes into the environment. By redirecting the methane to energy a reciprocating engine to produce electrical energy for Nodal’s information heart, we achieved a close to 100% mitigation effectivity. This strategy resulted in us mitigating an extra 672 SCF of methane each day per petahash, which might in any other case not have been mitigated by flaring. Within the span of 240 days, we prevented the discharge of roughly 1.3 million SCF of methane into the environment.
Determine 2: Methane Utilized by Marathon’s and Nodal’s LFG Pilot Venture (240 Day Length)
Carbon Dioxide Equal Impression
To contextualize the environmental impression of our pilot challenge, we calculated its methane utilization in its carbon dioxide equal utilizing a GWP timeline of 20 years and 100 years.
Of the full 16.1 million SCF of methane we utilized, our findings point out that we helped stop the discharge of roughly 60.9 million kilos of C02e utilizing a 20-year GWP timeline and 20.3 million kilos of CO2e utilizing the 100-year GWP timeline.
In accordance to the Environmental Safety Company (EPA), an common gas-powered passenger automobile emits about 9,200 pounds of C02 yearly. Thus, over the course of 240 days, our challenge mitigated the equal of 6,627 gas-powered passenger automobiles utilizing the 20-year GWP timeline and a pair of,209 gas-powered passenger automobiles utilizing the 100-year GWP timeline.
If we solely contemplate the extra 1.2 million SCF of methane mitigated as well as to flaring, we prevented the discharge of roughly 4.8 million kilos of C02e utilizing a 20-year GWP timeline and roughly 1.6 million kilos of CO2e utilizing the 100-year GWP timeline. Thus, over the course of 240 days, our challenge mitigated the equal of the yearly emissions from 530 gas-powered passenger automobiles utilizing the 20-year GWP timeline and 177 gas-powered passenger automobiles utilizing the 100-year GWP timeline.
Determine 3: Carbon Dioxide Equal Methane Utilized by Marathon’s and Nodal’s LFG Pilot Venture (240 Day Length)
Operational Effectivity and Uptime
We used a reciprocating engine on-site to convert the methane into electrical energy. This engine produced up to 10,000 BTU per kWh, equating to a conversion effectivity of roughly 34%. In contrast to the typical coal and current nuclear energy vegetation, which function at an effectivity of round 32% and 33%, respectively, Nodal’s generator operated at a barely larger effectivity.
Determine 4: Effectivity of the Common Pure Fuel Energy Vegetation, Current Nuclear Energy Vegetation, and Coal Energy Vegetation Versus Nodal’s On-Website Reciprocating Generator
Determine 5: On-Website Reciprocating Generator and Information Heart
Furthermore, to successfully harness the methane for generator use, it underwent therapy via a gasoline compression and conditioning skid. This significant step refined and pressurized the methane to meet essential requirements. The extent of therapy is determined by the gasoline high quality, immediately influenced by the landfill’s natural matter composition. On this specific case, the landfill gasoline contained roughly 50% methane, leading to a relatively decrease degree of therapy requirement.
Determine 6: Fuel Compression and Conditioning Skid
A key side of the challenge’s success was the landfill’s potential to generate a constant stream of methane due to its favorable waste composition and quantity. Going into the challenge, we anticipated an operational uptime of 85%, which is roughly on par with the industry average. Nonetheless, our pilot exceeded expectations, reaching an uptime of 92%. Downtimes have been primarily due to upkeep functions and weren’t due to a scarcity of gasoline availability.
Determine 7: Common Operational Uptime of Marathon’s and Nodal’s Pilot Venture
*The typical uptime of digital asset compute suppliers relies on the typical Bitcoin hash rate realization rate. These suppliers embrace Iris Vitality, Bitdeer Applied sciences Group, Hive Digital Applied sciences, Bit Digital, CleanSpark, TeraWulf, Core Scientific, Cipher Mining Applied sciences, Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, Argo Blockchain, Hut 8, and Digihost Know-how. The information was accessed on Could 28, 2024, and should have modified since then.
Monetary Advantages for Marathon, Nodal, and the Landfill
Nodal’s Energy Plant generates electrical energy at a price of $0.03 per kWh, which incorporates operational and upkeep prices. This price is lower than half the typical $0.08 per kWh paid by the commercial sector.
Determine 8: Common Gas Prices Together with Electrical energy, Operational, and Upkeep Prices of Marathon’s and Nodal’s LFG Pilot Venture
Our pilot challenge was not eligible for carbon credit or renewable vitality credit (RECs), advantages that many comparable websites usually obtain. If we had certified for these incentives, our computing bills would have been considerably decrease.
Over the 240 days, Marathon and Nodal utilized roughly 1.4 million kWh of electrical energy, which the landfill was in a position to generate income from. With out Marathon’s and Nodal’s pilot challenge, the landfill would have flared the surplus methane, yielding no extra monetary profit. Confronted with restricted choices, the landfill might both flare the methane with none monetary achieve or harness it to energy an on-site information heart. The latter choice, as evidenced by the pilot challenge, not solely prevented waste but additionally turned a beforehand unprofitable byproduct right into a income.
Conclusion
The outcomes from our pilot challenge efficiently validated our preliminary principle. Digital asset compute will not be solely attainable but additionally an economically viable choice to cut back methane emissions from landfills. Marathon and Nodal efficiently captured methane from a landfill, transformed it into electrical energy, and used it to energy Nodal’s information heart. For information heart operators like Marathon and Nodal, the challenge was financially advantageous, as we realized a lower-than-industry common price for computing with reliably excessive uptime. For the landfill, which beforehand didn’t have an incentive to put the methane gasoline into productive use, digital asset compute offered a catalyst to cut back emissions extra successfully by creating a brand new revenue stream that in any other case couldn’t have been generated. This challenge was, certainly, a win-win for all events concerned.
Moreover, we imagine the strategies and insights gained from this challenge open the door to new alternatives at landfill websites and different industries the place we are able to leverage our vitality harvesting applied sciences to faucet underutilized or wasted vitality sources and switch them into productive, extra sustainable belongings.
Disclaimer: This report is offered for normal informational functions solely. The opinions expressed within the report could differ from these expressed by Marathon Digital Holdings (“MDH”), its officers, workers, administrators or advisors or their associates. The data on this report doesn’t represent funding, authorized, accounting or different recommendation or data by MDH or its officers, workers, administrators or advisors or their associates. Data has been obtained from sources believed to be dependable, however MDH or its associates don’t warrant its completeness or accuracy. Outlooks and previous efficiency usually are not ensures of future outcomes. The data within the report could also be modified with out discover and isn’t assured to be full, right or up-to-date, and should not replicate probably the most present developments.
