Oil IT Journal readers will be well aware of our skepticism in regard to blockchain – not to mention crypto and Bitcoin. But there is so much activity in this sorry space that we feel obligated to report.
First item comes from the AAPG Explorer magazine in the article ‘Oil and Gas, and Bitcoin: An Inevitable Intersection’. This is essentially puffery for EnergyFunders whose CEO Laura Pommer offers ‘relationship counseling’ to bring oil, gas and bitcoin together. More specifically she argues that abandoned US well sites should be converted to Bitcoin mining, leveraging the otherwise stranded methane to power the number crunching.
An MIT publication looks into the relationship between Bitcoin mining and the climate. The MIT CEER paper puts the power requirements of the miners amounts to some 15.4 gigawatts. How can this be good? The climate benefits apparently stem from ‘grid balancing services, support of renewable energy expansion, methane emissions reductions via flare gas utilization and more …’ During the winter storm Elliott December 2022, Bitcoin miners ‘curtailed’ some 100 exahashes, lightening the load on the grid. On the other hand, industry claims that the majority of US Bitcoin mining is ‘fueled by sustainable energy’ are dubious and the potential climate benefits of Bitcoin mining warrant closer attention. More transparency on locations and energy sources of large publicly-listed Bitcoin miners are needed to ‘dismantle unsupported industry claims, improve assumption-based academic models, and point regulators to areas where Bitcoin mining may bring climate co-benefits’. More from the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute.
EverLine’s recently launched S3 Platform is said to brings a new level of trust and safety to pipeline operations. The compliance management system leverages verification protocols and distributed ledger technology to capture, check and audit pipeline compliance data. SP3 aggregates compliance requirements, location data, and operator qualifications to verify that the right work was performed on time, at the right location. Distributed ledger technology is said to ‘promote efficient accessibility and render the record immutable’. More from EverLine.
The US Department of Homeland Security has awarded a contract to Neoflow, an ‘energy blockchain company’ for the continued development of the Neoflow Platform for Crude Oil. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) made the award. The contract was awarded under the auspices of a DHS solicitation for ‘preventing forgery and counterfeiting of certificates and licenses’ . The solicitation supports the development of standards-based technologies to continue DHS’s efforts in utilizing the W3C’s Verifiable Credentials along with distributed ledger technology to ‘modernize operations’. The Neoflow Platform will ‘digitally trace’ natural gas and crude oil as it moves through the supply chain between Canada and the US. SVIP is one of the DHS’ programs to fund innovation and work with private sector partners to advance homeland security. Companies participating in SVIP are eligible for funding to develop and adapt commercial technologies for homeland security use cases.
The Texas Bitcoin Foundation has teamed with Texas State Technical College to launch the first-ever professional certification programs in bitcoin mining. The programs, which are funded by philanthropists Felicia and Gideon Powell, will prepare students for employment by the growing number of bitcoin mining companies that operate in Texas, said to be a ‘preferred jurisdiction’ for bitcoin mining. Gideon Powell is CEO of Cholla Petroleum and an avowed ‘bitcoin advocate’. More on the program from TSTC. As they say, ‘Only in Texas!’
© Oil IT Journal - all rights reserved.