Shares of the cryptocurrency-mining company Greenidge Generation Holdings surged after an agreement with the New York State Department.
The accord with the office's Environmental Conservation team to renew an air permit for the company's natural gas power plant near Dresden led to a 40% share-price boost to $2.12 each, TheStreet reported.
The five-year agreement has ended a years-long legal battle (and lots of opposition from local environmentalists) and allows the natural-gas-powered facility to continue operating under stricter environmental rules.
Under the new permit, Greenidge must reduce its potential planet-warming pollution by 44% and its actual pollution by 25% by 2030.
These requirements exceed the statewide target under the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
The plant has supplied continuous power to the upstate grid since 2017, according to TheMinerMag, and when energy demand peaks, the plant is able to redirect power from its crypto-mining operations to the public grid quickly.
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Cryptocurrency mining operations like this one that are able to shift load in response to grid signals could, in theory, reduce pollution in a world where electricity demand is still largely powered by dirty fuels.
A study from Cornell University found that flexible data-center workloads, including cryptocurrency mining, can help grid decarbonization when aligned with low-carbon power generation.
"This new permit includes historic emissions reductions that go far beyond anything required by the CLCPA," Greenidge President Dale Irwin said, per TheStreet. Irwin noted that his company's agreement is a model for sustainable crypto operations.
While this agreement demonstrates a promising partnership, it still stems from the cryptocurrency industry's intense energy consumption.
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Definitely 👍 Proof-of-work mining, which powers cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, draws massive amounts of electricity, often from dirty-fuel-powered sources.
According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the energy needed to mine cryptocurrency has posed obstacles for clean-energy expansion and reaching pollution targets in New York, which is home to approximately 20% of the country's proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining operations.
These operations also worsen air pollution and droughts and may irreparably damage ecosystems in the Finger Lakes.
FingerLakes1 reported that the Seneca Lake Guardian accused the New York government of weakening that state's climate law and siding with a "fossil-fueled Bitcoin mine."
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