Canada’s New Bitcoin Mining: Stranded Gas and a Whole Lot of Sarcasm!

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So, AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd., a Canadian agricultural company (yes, the ones who grow things), has decided to dip their toes into the wild world of Bitcoin mining in Alberta. And guess what? They’re doing it with stranded natural gas. Because why not? 🌱💰

In a thrilling announcement on June 17 (mark your calendars, folks!), AgriFORCE revealed their partnership with energy provider BlueFlare Energy. Together, they’re like the dynamic duo of the energy and crypto world. Batman and Robin, but with more gas and fewer capes. 🦸‍♂️

Located in the glamorous Berwyn, Alberta, this site is the company’s first operational deployment under its Power & Compute Initiative. It’s using a whopping 425 kilowatts (kW) of power to support 120 Bitmain S21 ASIC miners. That’s right, over 32 petahashes per second (PH/s) of computing power! Who knew farming could be so high-tech? 🤖

The deployment includes a custom-engineered mining pod with high-efficiency airflow and thermal controls. It’s like the Tesla of mining pods, but instead of a fancy touchscreen, it has BlueFlare’s proprietary telemetry system for performance monitoring. Because nothing says “I’m a serious miner” like a telemetry system. 📊

AgriFORCE claims that the Berwyn facility is powered entirely by stranded natural gas. You know, the kind that’s just hanging around, waiting for someone to give it a job. And let’s not forget BlueFlare’s emissions tracking system, Carbon Cube, which ensures they’re not just mining Bitcoin but also being good environmental citizens. 🌍

Phase 2 of this epic saga is already underway, promising to boost the site’s capacity by an additional 200 kW. That’s right, folks, we’re going from “just okay” to “let’s party!” with over 625 kW of power. 🎉

So far, AgriFORCE has mined a grand total of seven Bitcoin across its Alberta and Ohio operations, valued at around $735,000. They’re planning to keep up to 50% of the mined BTC in their corporate treasury. Because who doesn’t want a little Bitcoin stash for a rainy day? ☔️

In addition to the Berwyn site, AgriFORCE has signed a binding letter of intent with BlueFlare to deploy two more sites in Alberta, located in Oyen and Hinton. Each of these will replicate the Berwyn model, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 🛠️

These new sites will support workloads beyond Bitcoin mining, including AI inference, industrial IoT processing, and edge computing. It’s like a tech buffet, and everyone’s invited! 🍽️

AgriFORCE aims to scale its operational capacity to over 0.5 exahashes per second (EH/s) by the fourth quarter of 2025, with a long-term target of reaching 1 EH/s by Q1 2026. Because why not aim for the stars? 🚀

As Bitcoin mining becomes more energy-intensive, operators are on the hunt for alternative power sources. Recent trends show a move away from coal-based energy, with renewable energy adoption among miners growing at an annual rate of 5.8%. It’s like a green revolution, but with more digital coins! 🌿

Globally, new initiatives are popping up to support more sustainable mining practices. Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz introduced the FLARE Act, offering tax incentives for crypto miners using flared natural gas. Because who doesn’t love a good tax break? 💸

Meanwhile, Pakistan is getting in on the action, announcing plans to allocate 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. It’s all part of a broader national strategy to prevent energy wastage and attract tech investment. Talk about a power move! ⚡️

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2025-06-18 13:07