144 billion cubic metres of natural gas are drained or flared worldwide every year because it is not worth building a pipeline or collecting the gas in any other way.
Flaring natural gas releases methane into the atmosphere, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Since #Bitcoin miners can go where the energy source is, this otherwise wasted energy can be used. In fact, the operators of these oil deposits have a financial incentive to use this energy.
This wasted energy alone is enough to power the entire #Bitcoin network several times over.
Mining #Bitcoin is good for the environment because it gives companies an economic incentive to use stranded or wasted energy.