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00:00I WANT TO BRING IN THE CEO TO TALK ABOUT THIS. THIS IS GAS THAT WOULD NOT NORMALLY BE USED. HOW DOES THIS WORK? > > IN THE OIL FIELD, THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED FLARING. IT ' S ONE OF THE LARGEST EMISSION SOURCES. A COMPANY DRILLS AND OIL WELL AND ONE OF THE BYPRODUCTS IS NATURAL GAS. IF THEY DON ' T HAVE ACCESS TO A PIPELINE, THE MOST ECONOMIC THING FOR THEM TO DO IS LIGHT ON FIRE. WHEN THEY DO IT, THEY END UP VENTING A LOT OF METHANE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND THAT ' S A POTENT GREENHOUSE GAS. IT CREATES THIS MASSIVE WASTE WITH NO BENEFICIAL USE. EVERYBODY LOSES IN THE SITUATION. EMILY: HOW TO USE IT TO POWER TO COIN MINING? > > WE CREATED A TECHNOLOGY WHERE WE BUILD, OPERATE, AND MANAGE THESE MOBILE DATA CENTERS THAT WE DEPLOY INTO THE OILFIELD AND WE CO-LOCATE ON THE SITES THAT WOULD BE FLARING. INSTEAD OF THE GAS BEING FLARED, DEAL -- GOES INTO THE SYSTEM TO POWER COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING, CLOUD COMPUTING PRODUCT AND THINGS LIKE AI RESEARCH. EMILY: YOU ARE RUNNING A PILOT PROGRAM USING EXCESS NATURAL GAS FROM EXXON AND NORTH DAKOTA. HOW ' S IT GOING? > > WE CAN ' T COMMENT ON THE RELATIONSHIP WITH EXXON. NO COMMENT ON THAT FOR THE TIME BEING. EMILY: CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE PROCESS? IF YOU CAN RACK UP BIG PARTNERS, THIS COULD BE QUITE POWERFUL. > > FLARING IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM. THE WORLD BANK HAS AN INITIATIVE TO AND ROUTINE FLARING. THERE IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF GAS TICKETS FLARED EVERY DAY WITH NO BENEFICIAL USE. WE CAN HARNESS THAT, WE CAN POWER THE ENTIRE BITCOIN NETWORK EIGHT TIMES OVER. IT IS ENOUGH TO POWER ALL OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. IT ' S A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WASTED GAS GLOBALLY. TODAY, WE OPERATE IN NORTH DAKOTA AS WELL AS COLORADO AND WYOMING. WITH THE ADDITIONAL FINANCING, WE ARE PLANNING TO EXPAND INTO MARKETS LIKE THE PERMIAN BASIN IN TEXAS, A MARKET IN ARGENTINA, PLACES LIKE ABU DHABI AND OMAN IN THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE FLARING HAS BEEN A PERSISTENT CHALLENGE. EMILY: WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT YOU SEE TO ALIGN THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING AND THE CLIMATE? > > OUR CORE MISSION IS TO ALIGN THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING WITH THE FUTURE OF THE CLIMATE. FOR US, THAT MEANS BUILDING LARGE-SCALE COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE TO SOLVE THE WORLD ' S MOST ENERGY INTENSIVE COMPUTING PROBLEMS. LIKE DIGITAL CURRENCY MINING IS A GREAT EXAMPLE. AI RESEARCH, HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. IF YOU LOOK AT MANY ESTIMATES, THEY PROJECT THAT THE GLOBAL POWER CONSUMPTION FROM COMPUTING IS GOING TO EXCEED 10% IN THE NEAR TERM. OUR FOCUS IS TRYING TO ENABLE HUMANITY TO BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM ALL OF THOSE INNOVATIONS THAT ARE GOING TO COME ABOUT FROM THAT WITHOUT HAVING TO SUFFER ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF SOURCING THE POWER IN A NON-CLIMATE ALLIED CAPACITY. EMILY: IS BITCOIN MINING ON A PATH TO HURT CLIMATE? > > OUR FOCUS IS TRYING TO ENSURE THAT THAT DOESN ' T HAPPEN. EMILY: GIVEN THE WAY IT IS HAPPENING NOW AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE RAISED ALARM ABOUT HOW BITCOIN IS CREATED, HOW MUCH IS A WAY THAT IT HAPPENS NOW HURTING THE CLIMATE? > > BITCOIN MINING AS AN INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE CLEANEST POWER SOURCING INDUSTRIES IN THE WORLD. BY MANY ESTIMATES, IT IS 50% TO 60% OF THE TOTAL POWER POWERING THE NETWORK IS SOURCED CAN RENEWABLE MISSION REDUCING WAY. YOU COMPARE THAT TO THE STANDARD GRID THAT IS MULTIPLES OF WHAT THE U.S. GRID FOR INSTANCE IS POWERED FROM RENEWABLE PERSPECTIVE. EMILY: IF YOU CAN HARNESS ALL OF IT, YOU CAN POWER MANY MORE THINGS THAN BITCOIN MINING. > > CORRECT. WE RECENTLY LAUNCHED THE CRUSOE CLOUD THAT IS DELIVERED ON -- FOCUSED ON DELIVERING LOW-COST LOW IMPACT COMPUTING SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE FOCUSED ON AI RESEARCH. WE ARE WORKING WITH AMAZING RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES LIKE M.I.T.

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Crusoe Energy Closes $350 Million Series C Funding Round

Crusoe Energy Systems CEO and Co-Founder Chase Lochmiller joins Emily Chang to explain how this funding will help them take waste gas from oil fields and harness it to power Bitcoin mining operations. (Source: Bloomberg)

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