In an important precedent, a Supreme Court judge in New York state’s Yates County ruled in favor of cryptocurrency mining firm Greenidge Generation, dismissing a petition filed by a coalition of environmental activists. According to an Apr. 7 press release by Greenidge, judge Daniel Doyle dismissed a petition against the Greenidge Generation Holdings that a group of environmental organizations — Sierra Club, Seneca Lake Guardian, Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, as well as a number of individuals — brought in an attempt to stop the mining operation at Seneca Lake. The petition also called to halt Greenidge’s plans to …

Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings plans on taking a big step toward carbon neutrality with plans to transition its Montana mining facility to use sustainable power sources elsewhere. The Nevada-based company intends on relocating its coal-powered Hardin, Montana facility to a location that uses sustainable, non-carbon emitting energy sources. The move is aimed at helping the company reach its goal of full carbon neutrality by the end of 2022. Marathon CEO Fred Thiel stated in an announcement from the company that he is taking efforts to “ensure our miners are as sustainably powered as possible.” “With the majority of our …

Despite the canceled merger between Gryphon Digital Mining and Sphere 3D, the two firms still intend on building out carbon-neutral Bitcoin mining operations. An April 4 joint statement from the two crypto mining companies revealed that scrapping the merger was a mutual decision “due to changing market conditions, the passage of time, and the relative financial positions of the companies.” The cancellation will apparently not stop either company from moving forward with plans on building carbon-neutral Bitcoin (BTC) mining facilities. The merger was announced last June and would have seen the two companies become one under the Gryphon name. It …

The United Nations arm aimed at assessing the science related to climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, has named crypto among technologies that may require greater energy demands. According to a report released on Monday, the IPCC said cryptocurrencies, as part of the infrastructure around data centers and information technology systems related to blockchain, had the potential to be a “major global source” of carbon dioxide emissions. The group said that estimated CO2 emissions between 2010-2019 suggested there was only a 50% probability of limiting the rise of the average Earth temperature by 1.5°C based on …

Canadian oil and gas company Bengal Energy, is dipping its toes into Bitcoin (BTC) mining as a way of utilizing the untapped energy from its gas wells in the far reaches of the Australian outback. According to a report from The Australian, Bengal Energy is set to conduct a pilot program where roughly 70 Bitcoin mining rigs will be set up inside a portable building — known in the local mining industry as a “donga” — which will be assembled near a series of previously out-of-operation gas wells in the Cooper Basin. According to Bengal Energy’s chief operating officer, Kai …

Panelists at the recent MENA Climate Week 2022 examined how blockchain technology can contribute to green initiatives. Hosted by Dubai’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and the World Green Economy Organization along with various institutions under the United Nations Environment Programme and in partnership with renewable energy groups, the event explored how to promote climate action using digital innovations. In one session, a hybrid panel made up of experts in blockchain and climate action discussed how blockchain use cases can contribute to a greener future in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and …

MENA Climate Week kicked off on Tuesday with a focus on discussing the use of blockchain technology for bringing transformative climate action to the region. Kristina Cornèr, Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief, shared her insights in a panel discussion at the event about how the climate action sector can benefit from the crypto and blockchain community. In the session held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Cornèr discussed topics ranging from the media’s role in educating the masses about blockchain to trust and collaboration within blockchain projects and how the climate action community could use the blockchain community’s strengths such as ambition, action and …

Next time someone tries to poo-poo the renewable credentials of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, remember AmityAge Mining Farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and Dušan Matuska, the Bitcoin mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity for mining. Matuska, the man “who met Satoshi Nakomoto”, told Cointelegraph that “methane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.” As human and animal waste isn’t running out any time soon, their BTC mining process is both environmentally friendly and renewable. According to Matuska, using renewable energies such as biogas “shows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewables and make their return …

Greenpeace, along with other climate groups, and co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, Chris Larsen, has launched a new campaign aimed at changing Bitcoin (BTC) to a more environmentally friendly consensus model. The “Change the code, not the climate” campaign aims to pressure key industry leaders, Bitcoin miners, and influencers like Elon Musk, and Jack Dorsey, into moving over to a new consensus model saying: “If only 30 people — the key miners, exchanges, and core developers who build and contribute to Bitcoin’s code — agreed to reinvent proof-of-work mining or move to a low-energy protocol, Bitcoin would stop polluting …

Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) dodged a regulatory bullet in the European Union when proposed cryptocurrency legislation was altered to not include a ban on proof-of-work- (PoW)-based crypto assets. Policymakers had raised a number of concerns about the relative anonymity of crypto transactions and their environmental impact. Some experts including Tim Frost, founder and CEO of Yield App, believe that the “climate change” angle reflects a hidden attempt to ban Bitcoin. But, why? The proposed EU regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) can be seen as a hybrid approach, which sometimes treats crypto assets as securities and at other times …

Legendary boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is taking another jab at the crypto space by launching a new NFT and Metaverse project called the Mayweverse. The nonfungible tokens (NFT) will feature the likeness of Mayweather himself and provide various utilities and prizes for holders depending on the rarity of the item. Little more is known about the project at the time of writing other than that the Metaverse will contain a boxing gym. After many months of hard work I’m launching my new NFT Project @mayweverse⁰ The collection will have 5,000 NFTs (5 different NFTs cards of 1,000 each). Each card …

Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG), a crypto mining company in Pennsylvania, is turning waste from old power plants into energy to power hundreds of Bitcoin mining rigs. The company collects coal refuse, a leftover waste material from the process of coal mining, and burns it in what it says is an emissions-controlled environment at its energy generation facilities. Coal refuse can cause a raft of environmental problems, such as water and air pollution, and acid mine drainage, the acidic water which comes from coal mining operations. Collecting this waste and safely disposing of it while generating power for crypto mining is …