Vespene Energy Raises USD 4.3M to Expand Gas-to-Bitcoin Solutions

Vespene Energy Raises USD 4.3M to Expand Gas-to-Bitcoin Solutions

Vespene Energy, a firm that uses landfill methane to fuel bitcoin mining, announced the company has raised USD 4.3 million in a funding round led by Polychain Capital. Vespene aims to use the funds for its pilot in California by using landfill methane to mine bitcoin and "mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions."

Vespene Energy to Enable Landfill Owners to Monetize Landfill Methane

Vespene Energy announced that the company has raised USD 4.3 million from a financing round led by Polychain Capital. The company’s website describes how the startup converts landfill methane into bitcoin value with no grid connections or pipeline. Vespene essentially installs onsite data centers powered by micro-turbines to derive energy from municipal landfills’ methane.

It gives landfill owners the ability to monetize their landfill methane, "reducing routine flaring and maintenance costs," Vespene’s product summary declared. Polychain Capital Founder and CEO Olaf Carlson-Wee said on Tuesday that he believes the continued adoption of bitcoin will benefit from solutions offered by Vespene Energy.

"We are excited to partner with Vespene as they have built a creative solution to use mining to eliminate a potent greenhouse gas source while making its energy mix greener," the Polychain Capital Founder said in a statement. Vespene Energy’s fundraising round comes at a time when there has been a lot of negative attention focused on Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism and the energy the network uses.

While many believe much of the negative attention is misguided, several companies are helping the environment by powering bitcoin mining facilities with flare gas emissions. The CEO of Geneious and ESG analyst, Daniel Batten, published a report in May that showed bitcoin mining could help the environment significantly. Batten’s study highlights that bitcoin mining is possibly the best way to reduce methane to eliminate the world’s carbon emissions by 5.32%.

Besides the flare gas mitigation firm Vespene Energy, companies like Crusoe Energy, Greenidge Generation, Upstream Data, and EZ Blockchain are transforming flare gas emissions into Bitcoin. Crusoe secured capital of USD 505 million in April 2022, and gas giants like Exxon Mobil, Equinor, and Conocophillips are reportedly working on gas-to-bitcoin solutions.

Compass Mining also released a documentary video on the subject of bitcoin mining and its relationship with the oil and gas industry in Wyoming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that America’s landfills account for 15% of methane emissions, but studies show the numbers could be much higher. According to the company website, Vespene's technology curbs methane, VOCs, CO2, and NOX emissions.

"Our goal is to mitigate a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and help fuel the transition to a renewable energy future by using Bitcoin mining to turn landfill methane streams into revenue streams for our customers," Adam Wright, Vespene’s Co-Founder and CEO, said. Wright concluded,

"Because our sites require no connection to the grid or pipeline build-out, we can rapidly turn otherwise harmful and wasted landfill methane into a clean power source for carbon-negative Bitcoin mining."