Hut 8 says it will aim for a net-zero carbon footprint by 2025, while admitting to massive usages of power at its facilities.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Hut 8 Cryptocurrency has announced a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025, but at the same time released figures showing its staggering power consumption and carbon footprint.
The dataprocessor, which handles Bitcoin transactions to earn a fee, used nearly 800 gigawatts of power in 2021 at its facilities in Medicine Hat, Drumheller and three smaller facilities across Canada.
Considering the makeup by source of its power supply, the company estimates the related carbon dioxide released totalled 437,000 tonnes.
That amount is greater than the total emissions at all three LNG straddle plants in Empress combined, or three times those of the JBS Meat processing plant in Brooks.
The cross-Canada total for the company is equal to the emissions of the City of Medicine Hat’s river valley power plant.
That’s enough power to supply an entire mid-sized city, but the company says it is now offsetting one-fifth of its footprint by purchasing carbon credits and will obtain more while working to become more efficient.
“Maintaining carbon neutrality is a steppingstone as we continue to evaluate options to shift to alternative energy sources,” reads a statement from the company. “To that end, Hut 8 has set a carbon neutrality goal of 100 per cent by 2025 and intends to offset its emissions, annually, starting in 2021 using meaningful carbon credits.”
The goal of offsetting as much CO2 as is produced in its power supply is detailed in a new ESG report from the publicly-traded cryptocurrency firm, a rarity to this point in the sector which has faced criticism from environmentalists for its enormous power draw.
The company is not an emitter itself, and in the federal analysis the pollution is counted specific to the source facilities. Hut 8 is a member of the “Crypto-Climate Accord,” which is a private-sector effort to tackle environmental issues. It is also a member of the Business Renewables Centre Canada, which promotes power-purchase agreements as a way to bolster green energy projects to lower relative emissions across larger power grids.
Hut 8 says in the report, posted to investors on its website, it has acquired offset credits equivalent to 87,400 tonnes in the region of China where its equipment is manufactured.
The company has also bought carbon offset credits in the Alberta TIER program for large emitters, though it is not an emitter itself and would not have to pay into the system.
Those credits are from Nova Scotia-based firm CarbonCure, which uses a patented process to sequester CO2 in concrete mixing, and earns credits in the Alberta system.
“In 2021, we took a step forward as a leader in ESG by taking action that is transparent and measurable,” states Jaime Leverton, Hut 8’s CEO.
“Our goal is to continuously evolve and to make a material difference while keeping us accountable and focused on the issues that matter most to our employees and stakeholders.”
The company is also switching lighting systems at its facilities to higher-efficiency LED bulbs, and plans to use electric rather than gas or diesel powered vehicles at its sites.
Two years ago it announced that by changing computer equipment and realigning its operating processes, it brought on more computational power using the same amount of electricity.
Other sections detail its commitment and actions to promote a diverse workforce, social well-being and charitable efforts.
The company purchases a large amount of power directly from the City of Medicine Hat utility division on contract to operate its facility near Box Springs Road, plus imports more via city lines from the Alberta power grid.
Another facility in Drumheller is fed by the Alberta grid which is considered to have had 11 per cent renewably produced power in 2021.
Last fall the company also announced plans to open a third major facility in a shuttered natural gas power plant in North Bay, Ont., which will come online in 2022.
The federal government has set a goal of having the nation’s power grid at net zero by 2035, and last month the province introduced power line legislation it says will support new renewable projects, battery storage and grid reliability.
The Alberta Electrical System Operator is set to release its Net-Zero “Pathways” report after discussions with stakeholders in June 2022.
Alberta’s power market will also be coal-free in 2023, replaced by cleaner burning natural gas and a surge in renewable power plants. That would bring the conglomerated emissions down.
