The company will close a decades-old coal ash landfill and construct a solar farm on the site.

Greenidge Generation Holdings, which runs a bitcoin mining operation alongside its power supply unit in Upstate New York, announced Thursday (July 29, 2021) that it will shutter a 40-year old coal ash landfill in the Finger Lakes region, and thereafter set up a 5MW solar farm at the 143-acre site. (CISION PRNewswire)

The company previously demonstrated its commitment to the environment by declaring it will purchase voluntary carbon offsets from a portfolio of U.S. greenhouse gas reduction projects to ensure the above-mentioned bitcoin mining operations facility in Upstate New York becomes entirely carbon neutral by June 1, 2021.

Lockwood Hills landfill in Dresden, New York

Acquired by a Greenidge subsidiary in 2014, the Lockwood Hills landfill in Dresden, New York, was initially constructed and permitted in 1979 to dispose of coal combustion residuals (CCR) and other wastes generated by the power generation facility before Greenidge assuming ownership in 2014.

Though the power plant operator has since converted the coal-fired plant it acquired to natural gas, the landfill remained operational. Greenidge will now work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to safely cap and close the landfill. Thereafter, it will apply for permission to install a 5MW solar farm at the site.

Greenidge: BTC mining profits to fund renewable energy

For these actions, Greenidge intends to invest profits from its carbon-neutral bitcoin mining operation in Upstate New York.

“Bitcoin mining at Greenidge is already a model for the industry in that we are advancing this emerging financial platform for people across the world in a manner that fully protects our environment and drives economic growth across Upstate New York. Today, we’re announcing the next step; making more renewable energy a reality by leveraging bitcoin mining profits to fund the creation of a new solar farm at a landfill site we’re going to close well ahead of schedule,” said Jeff Kirt, CEO.

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Illustrative image of coal ash dump – environmentalintegrity.com