MARA, one of the largest bitcoin miners in the public market, has kicked off an exciting new pilot program aimed at powering its operations with excess natural gas from U.S. shale, as noted in a report from Reuters. This initiative emerges amidst an ongoing battle for electricity between artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and bitcoin mining operations.

MARA’s New Pilot Project Uses Excess Shale Gas to Fuel Bitcoin Mining

MARA’s program, which launched last month, is set to generate 25 megawatts of power using natural gas that would otherwise go to waste at shale oil sites in Texas and North Dakota. According to the report, the gas, often a byproduct of oil drilling, usually gets burned off because the infrastructure needed to transport it is lacking.

By tapping into this energy source, MARA dodges the rising costs of relying on the regional electricity grid, CEO Fred Thiel shared with Reuters’ report Laila Kearney. Kearney disclosed the pilot marks the company’s first foray into owning its own power generation. Along with lowering electricity expenses, the project helps MARA rack up carbon credits by cutting down greenhouse gas emissions.

Reuters details that these credits are earned because MARA captures gas that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere as methane, a significant contributor to global warming. While smaller bitcoin (BTC) miners have experimented with mobile setups in shale regions before, this is the first instance of a publicly traded miner like MARA embracing such a model, according to Thiel’s discussion with Reuters.

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, shares of the bitcoin mining company were up by 0.44%. Over the past five days, MARA’s stock has risen 6.92%, and in the last 30 days, it’s gained 12.38%. Earlier this year, MARA announced plans to start purchasing BTC and keeping the bitcoin it mines in reserves, following a strategy similar to Microstrategy’s, which has been implementing this approach since 2020.

What do you think about MARA’s pilot? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.