The data centre will be powered exclusively by excess natural gas from oilfield production that would have otherwise been flared.
US digital asset technology company MARA, in partnership with on-site mitigation services provider NGON, has launched a 25MW micro data centre operation across oil wellheads in Texas and North Dakota.
The data centre will be powered exclusively by excess natural gas from oilfield production that would have otherwise been flared, helping local energy producers increase methane mitigation efficiency.
The project aims to limit the need for oil crude extraction companies to resort to flaring gas in order to reduce methane emissions, instead providing them with a localised offtake measure. Unlike flaring, which is only 92% efficient in combusting methane, this measure can improve that efficiency by up to 99%t.
The operation will be distributed across wellheads in Texas and North Dakota, with operational status expected by January 2025.
The companies claim the process will capture and convert excess natural gas into economic value on-site while reducing operating costs and dramatically improving the sustainability of oil production.
Additionally, the operation will establish a pathway to create carbon credits via grid offsets through successful listing on the Verra Registry.
Fred Thiel, MARA’s Chairman and CEO commented on the partnership, stating, “Reducing methane emissions is one of the most immediate and impactful ways to improve our environment.”
He added, “Our latest operations reduce operating costs by utilising existing natural gas production. These operations are also MARA’s first owned power generation assets, advancing our goal of greater vertical integration and operational resilience.”
MARA was previously known as Marathon Digital Holdings. The company claims to have 760MW of mining capacity at its disposal, and though some of this is powered by renewable energy, most of its electricity comes from the main grid in the US which is 80% reliant on fossil fuels.
As recently as 2021, one of Marathon’s data centres in Montana was receiving low-cost power from a coal-fired power station through a deal with its operator, though the company says it has since moved its mining rigs elsewhere. Last year it launched a small pilot in Utah, which saw a 280kW Bitcoin set up powered by landfill methane gas. In Finland, the company is connecting its facility to a local district heating scheme.
Companies involved in using flared gas to power servers claim the process benefits the environment because otherwise wasted energy is used, and the gas is burnt more efficiently, releasing less unburnt methane.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG); burning it converts it into CO2, a much less potent but more long-lasting GHG. Crusoe Energy has previously said that burning methane to CO2 results in a 69 percent decrease in short-term CO2-equivalent emissions compared to flaring.
