Bitcoin Miner Using Compute Heat to Supplement Canadian Greenhouses

Hardware manufacturer and Bitcoin miner Canaan has continued its initiative of reusing energy for commercial and consumer applications by making compute heat available for greenhouses in Canada.

In a Tuesday notice, Canaan said it would participate in a 3 megawatt (MW) proof-of-concept with Bitforest Investment in the province of Manitoba to “recover heat from an Avalon computing system and use the heat as a supplemental source for greenhouse operations.”

The pilot program, expected to run for an initial 24 months, will use Canaan’s liquid cooling systems to capture heat and preheat the intake water for the greenhouses, reducing the energy required.

”With this [proof-of-concept], we are not just deploying computing equipment for one project — we hope to build a data-driven, replicable model,” said Canaan chair and CEO Nangeng Zhang. ”This program will allow us to measure, model, and scale heat recovery for agriculture in colder climates […] The [proof-of-concept] expands our broader efforts to rethink how computing infrastructure can enhance energy sustainability for households, businesses, and industrial partners.”

The initiative would allow Canaan to supplement Bitforest’s greenhouses “by recycling heat from computing servers that would otherwise be wasted,” reducing the dependency on fossil-fuel boilers. The company said it would deploy a computing system with 360 units of liquid-cooled servers. According to Bitforest, its operations in Manitoba include tomato production.

Related: Bitcoin miners turn to renewable energy amid profit margin squeeze

Miners turning to green solutions, energy usage

Canaan announced the launch of a mining facility at a wind-powered site in Texas in September, but the Bitcoin (BTC) miner is far from the only company seeking to reduce energy costs through green solutions. 

In November, mining and digital infrastructure company Phoenix Group announced a 30-MW facility in Ethiopia using hydroelectric power. Another Bitcoin miner, Sangha Renewables, launched a 20-MW solar-powered operation in Texas.