Usually, those environmental impacts feel a little detached from the actual act of mining or making transactions. But not in Montana where a crypto company has single handedly brought an almost obsolete coal plant back into production. It’s not often we get to see a crypto story so on the nose it involves actually reviving a coal plant to produce dirty power solely for the use of mining Bitcoin. Or at least last time it was nuclear powered instead.
The Guardian explains The 115-megawatt Hardin generating station coal plant has been limping onwards since it was initially set to close back in 2018. The nail was finally almost in the coffin in 2020 when the plant only operated for 46 days in the entire year. It seemed like a sure thing, but in swooped some crypto bros to save the poor polluting powerplant.