{"id":77963,"date":"2026-09-10T06:27:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T06:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/daniel-batten-says-bitcoin-mining-could-cut-global-emissions-8-5\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T06:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T06:27:22","slug":"daniel-batten-says-bitcoin-mining-could-cut-global-emissions-8-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/daniel-batten-says-bitcoin-mining-could-cut-global-emissions-8-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Batten Says Bitcoin Mining Could Cut Global Emissions 8.5%"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Crypto News &#8211; iGaming.org )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Bitcoin mining could become a practical tool for cutting methane emissions from landfills and oil fields, according to climate tech investor Daniel Batten.<\/p>\n<p>In a new X thread, Batten <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DSBatten\/status\/2097741501983752613\">argued<\/a> that miners can turn stranded methane into electricity at locations where pipelines or grid connections do not make economic sense. He estimates widespread deployment could eventually reduce total global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 8.5%.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Methane warms the atmosphere around 80 times more than CO2 over a 20 year period, according to UNEP.<\/li>\n<li>Cambridge research found 3.3% of surveyed Bitcoin mining power came from otherwise flared gas and calculated a potential 2.2 million tonne CO2 equivalent reduction under one accounting scenario.<\/li>\n<li>Peer reviewed research co authored by Batten found <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/cryptocurrencies\/section\/how-mining-works\/\">Bitcoin mining<\/a> can improve the economics of methane capture at some landfill sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<h2><strong>Bitcoin Miners Can Go Where Other Energy Buyers Cannot<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Batten focused on methane that would otherwise escape or be flared at oil fields and landfills.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those sites sit too far from electricity grids or gas pipelines to justify conventional infrastructure. Batten said Bitcoin miners have an advantage because mining equipment can operate directly beside the energy source and electricity represents more than 80% of miner cash operating costs.<\/p>\n<p>Cambridge research supports that cost structure. Its 2025 Digital Mining Industry Report found electricity accounted for over 80% of cash expenses among surveyed mining companies.<\/p>\n<p>Batten wrote:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThese \u2018unfussy eaters\u2019 are Bitcoin miners. And they can be our salvation when it comes to dealing with leaked methane from both flared\/vented gas and Landfill gas.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The idea works by collecting methane and using it in generators that power Bitcoin mining machines. Combustion converts methane into CO2, which has far lower short term warming power.<\/p>\n<p>UNEP puts methane warming potential at around 80 times that of CO2 during the first 20 years after release. Cutting human caused methane emissions by 45% could avoid nearly 0.3\u00b0C of warming by the 2040s, according to its Global Methane Assessment.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Cambridge Finds Flare Gas Already Powers Bitcoin Mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Batten said the concept has already progressed beyond small pilot projects.<\/p>\n<p>The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance found that 3.3% of electricity used by surveyed Bitcoin miners came from flared gas. Its dataset covered companies representing about 48% of global Bitcoin network computing power.<\/p>\n<p>Cambridge estimated annual Bitcoin mining emissions at 39.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent before adjustments.<\/p>\n<p>Under a scenario where gas used by miners would otherwise have been flared, Cambridge <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/crypto\/cambridge-centre-updates-bitcoin-power-usage-estimates-reflects-reduced-energy-consumption\/\">reduced<\/a> that estimate by 2.2 million tonnes to 37.6 million tonnes. The report cautioned that the result depends heavily on assumptions around flare efficiency, methane combustion and whether the gas would genuinely have remained unused.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction is important. Cambridge did not conclude that Bitcoin mining currently removes exactly 2.2 million tonnes of emissions under every methodology. Rather, it calculated that reduction under one counterfactual accounting approach.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/crypto\/nodal-power-converts-methane-from-landfills-into-electricity-and-bitcoin\/\">Landfills<\/a> could provide a larger opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>A 2024 peer reviewed Journal of Cleaner Production study co authored by Batten examined Bitcoin mining alongside landfill gas electricity generation. Researchers found mining revenue could improve project economics at sites where conventional landfill gas projects struggle to make financial sense.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Batten Puts Potential Global Reduction at 8.5%<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Batten estimates Bitcoin mining deployed across suitable oil fields and landfills could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 8.5%, with around 7 percentage points coming from landfill methane and 1.5 points from oil and gas sites.<\/p>\n<p>The 8.5% figure comes from Batten modelling rather than the Cambridge study. His earlier analysis reached the same estimate after adjusting landfill methane assumptions and calculating how much stranded gas mining operations could economically consume.<\/p>\n<p>Measurement remains difficult. NASA research has found methane inventories can underestimate emissions from some sources. A 2024 satellite based analysis estimated U.S. landfill methane emissions were around 50% higher than EPA inventory figures, while emissions from 70 high emitting landfills were 77% higher at the median than facility reports.<\/p>\n<p>Those findings support the broader argument that landfill methane may represent a larger climate problem than inventory based estimates suggest, although they do not independently verify the 8.5% Bitcoin mining estimate.<\/p>\n<p>Batten said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTo neglect this \u2018right under our nose\u2019 way to slash methane emissions based on some past impressions about Bitcoin is chauvinistic folly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>To know more about how to talk and defend Bitcoin in your conversations have a look at this <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/crypto\/helping-others-understand-bitcoin-starts-with-how-you-talk-about-it\/\">simple guide and infographic<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/crypto\/bitcoin-mining-could-turn-methane-waste-into-climate-tool\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Crypto News &#8211; iGaming.org ) Bitcoin mining could become a practical tool for cutting methane emissions from landfills and oil fields, according to climate tech investor Daniel Batten. In a new X thread, Batten argued that miners can turn stranded methane into electricity at locations where pipelines or grid connections do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":77964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}