Canadian city plans to supply residents’ heat using Bitcoin mining

MintGreen, a Canada-based cleantech cryptocurrency miner, will be partnering with the Lonsdale Energy Corporation to supply heat to residents of North Vancouver in British Columbia starting in 2022.

In an Oct. 14 announcement, MintGreen said its “digital boilers” — which it claims can recover more than 96% of the electricity used for Bitcoin (BTC) mining — will prevent 20,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases per megawatt from entering the atmosphere during its arrangement with North Vancouver. The recovered energy will be used to heat 100 residential and commercial buildings in the Canadian city with a population of roughly 155,000.

Colin Sullivan, the CEO of MintGreen, said the partnership was aimed at tackling issues related to climate change. According to a December 2020 report from the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, building operations and their construction accounted for roughly 38% of carbon dioxide emissions in urban areas.

Related: Bitcoin mine heat-recycling firm MintGreen closes seed round led by CoinShares

Crypto users battling the cold during the winter season have often turned to mining rigs as a solution to supply heat. MintGreen has already partnered with the Vancouver Island Sea Salt facility and the Canadian whiskey company Shelter Point Distillery to sell off its heat waste generated from BTC mining to power parts of their operations.

MintGreen said it plans to begin the initiative in 2022, likely before one of Canada’s harsh winters begins. The lowest recorded temperature for North Vancouver is roughly -20° C.