Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Supreme Political Council in Sanaa announces the dismissal of the current government headed by Abdulaziz bin Habtoor and assigns it to manage regular public affairs
Ministry of Health in Gaza: Two Palestinians injured by Israeli occupation forces gunfire east of Gaza Strip
Kremlin says Canada must bring to justice or extradite Nazi SS veteran who spoke in Parliament.
Kremlin: The terrorist attack on Nord Stream was de facto somehow organized by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Al Mayadeen's Correspondent in Baghdad: Turkish air strikes target villages in Rawanduz and Qandil in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Russian Foreign Ministry: Russia bans entry to Radakin, head of defense staff of UK armed forces who oversees training of Ukrainian military on UK territory.
Iranian Space Agency spokesperson told Al Mayadeen: The Revolutionary Guards Air Forces successfully launched the Noor 3 satellite into space.
Reuters: Death toll from fuel depot fire in Karabakh leaps to 125.
Israeli media: The IOF tried to locate the paratrooper and failed to determine his landing location, speculating that he headed north.
Israeli media: The IOF spotted a paratrooper flying over their outposts on the border with Lebanon before he disappeared.

Pennsylvania crypto-mining firm eyes burning tires for Bitcoin

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Guardian
  • 1 Sep 2023 12:34
  • x

Experts argue that tire combustion can produce highly hazardous compounds associated with cancer and are known to be hard to degrade in the environment.

  • Crypto
    Tires burn in an uncontrolled dump near the town of Sesena, on May 13, 2016 (AFP)

Aiming to further produce Bitcoin, Pennsylvania-based crypto-mining company Stronghold Digital Mining is looking to burn tires, raising health and environmental concerns by residents and environmental groups, The Guardian reported on Friday.

According to the news website, the production of Bitcoin requires a tremendous amount of energy. Its power usage is predicted to be 113 terawatt-hours per year, which is nearly the amount of electricity consumed by Kazakhstan, the Philippines, and Ukraine in 2022.

Since 2021, when Stronghold purchased the Panther Creek power plant in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, it has been burning coal waste to generate inexpensive electricity for Bitcoin, The Guardian indicated.

It explained that although the disposal of coal waste can aid in the remediation of damaged soil, the process releases greenhouse gases and other toxic pollutants. It can take twice as much waste coal to generate the same amount of energy as regular coal.

The firm also claims that it occasionally needs to burn tire-derived fuel, which is generated from shredded vehicle tires, to improve the efficiency of waste-coal combustion.

The cryptocurrency miner, which is subsidized by the state to burn waste coal, enjoys temporary authorization to test the usage of tire-derived fuel. It is also seeking permanent authorization to use tires as up to 15% of its fuel, or 78,000 tonnes.

Although environmental organizations decry the practice, the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2016 deemed burning tires for fuel as better than landfilling them.

Stronghold Spokesperson Naomi Harrington told The Guardian that additives such as tire fuel "are especially needed when the quality of the coal refuse is low in energy content."

Related News

US sanctions network over alleged assistance in procuring Iranian UAVs

Solomon Islands PM says missed Biden summit to avoid 'lecture'

"It poses risks to the health of people living nearby," pointed out Charles McPhedran, an attorney with Earthjustice, an organization that is challenging the company’s tire bid.

"This sort of disposal of tires is a last resort."

Tire combustion can produce highly hazardous compounds associated with cancer and are known to be hard to degrade in the environment. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which are carcinogenic, are also linked to tire combustion.

"They are clearly looking to reduce their fuel costs," considered Rob Altenburg of the PennFuture local environmental group, adding that "there is no analysis for how this will add to the existing burden of legacy pollution in the area."

The Panther Creek power plant is within two miles of communities designated as environmental justice regions by the state. Residents in Carbon County and environmental groups have written to the county commissioner and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to express their concerns.

The DEP issued Stronghold Digital Mining seven citations for failing to meet emission guidelines.

The firm claimed in a statement to The Guardian that its activities use the "best available control technology for air pollution controls."

It also alleged that by burning waste coal, "Stronghold has reclaimed over 1,050 acres of once-unusable land in Pennsylvania. Without these operations, the waste coal would remain unremediated and continue to harm local communities by polluting waterways and emitting toxins into the atmosphere without any sort of emissions control."

Read more: Woman who offered hitman bitcoin to off husband sentenced to prison

  • United States
  • Bitcoin
  • US
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Pennsylvania

Most Read

Russia destroyed leopard tank in Ukraine with fully-German crew

Russia destroyed leopard tank in Ukraine with fully-German crew

  • Europe
  • 23 Sep 2023
Ukrainian soldiers ride an APC on the front line near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on June 5, 2023 (AP)

US sees Ukrainian army demoralized, no chance to win: Seymour Hersh

  • Europe
  • 21 Sep 2023
Blinken’s ‘Variable Geometry’ for a New Cold War

Blinken’s ‘Variable Geometry’ for a New Cold War

  • Analysis
  • 24 Sep 2023
Zelensky joins Canadian Parliament’s ovation to WWII Nazi soldier

Zelensky joins Canadian Parliament’s ovation to WWII Nazi soldier

  • US & Canada
  • 25 Sep 2023

Coverage

All
Morocco & Libya Disasters

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, chairs a weekly cabinet meeting, flanked by Tourism Minister Haim Katz, at his office in occupied al-Quds Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023 (Pool Photo via AP)
MENA

Israeli Minister shares optimism after warm reception in Saudi Arabia

The speaker of Canada's House of Commons Anthony Rota delivers a speech following an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, September 22, 2023. (AP)
US & Canada

Canadian lower House Speaker resigns after hailing former Nazi soldier

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP)
Europe

Erdogan urges Zangezur corridor completion amid tensions with Yerevan

A paratrooper gliding on the Lebanese-Palestinian border (Israeli media)
MENA

Paratrooper glides on Lebanese-Palestinian border, disappears

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS