Citing Climate Concerns, New York Denies Permit to Bitcoin Mining Plant

An anonymous reader shares this report from NBC News:

A controversial bitcoin mining operation on the largest of central New York's Finger Lakes does not meet the requirements of state climate laws, New York's Department of Environmental Conservation ruled Thursday, denying an air permit request the entity's owner, Greenidge Generation LLC., made in March 2021.

Renewing the air permit for the Greenidge facility on Seneca Lake 'would be inconsistent with or would interfere with the attainment of statewide greenhouse gas emission limits,' the Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, said in its ruling. It added that the company, which burns natural gas at its plant, has 'failed to demonstrate that the continued operation of the facility is justified notwithstanding this inconsistency, as it has not provided any electric system reliability or other ongoing need for the facility.' Greenhouse gas emissions from the plant have increased 'dramatically' since a previous permit was issued to Greenidge in 2016 and after the 2019 enactment of New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, DEC said.

Local residents and environmental groups lauded the decision. Greenidge said it would continue to operate the plant under its current permit while it challenged the DEC ruling....

Greenidge took over a mothballed power plant on the shores of Seneca Lake in 2014 and requested permits to operate it as a so-called peaker plant, providing electricity to the grid in times of heavy use. While the operation initially supplied most of its power to the grid, DEC found its main purpose has become bitcoin mining.

The article adds that the global usage of electricity for bitcoin mining 'roughly equals the consumption of Pakistan, according to the University of Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.