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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" />
<title>cow.py 🤔💭🐄💩=💰 </title>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/matrixpunk.jpg" />
<meta name="description" content="The economics of mining bitcoin with cow manure.">
<meta name="keywords" content="Todd Chapman, Blockchain, bitcoin, BTC, renewable natural gas, RNG, cows, manure, methane">
<meta name="author" content="Todd Chapman">
<script type="module" src="https://pyscript.net/snapshots/2023.11.1.RC3/core.js"></script>
<style type="text/css">
body {
background-color: black;
color: #00ff33;
align-content: center;
}
h1 {
text-align: center;
}
h2 {
text-align: center;
}
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</head>
<body>
<h1>The Economics of Mining Bitcoin with Cow Manure</h1>
<h2>🤔💭🐄💩=💰</h2>
<p>
The prospect of mining cryptocurrency with renewable energy is an intriguing idea,
particularly if the renewable energy is free of monetary cost. Consider mining Bitcoin
via <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/natural_gas_renewable.html">renewable natural
gas (RNG)</a>, i.e. methane from cow manure (a perk of owning livestock that comes with no additional cost).
This work investigates two calculations: the quantity of usable energy produced by typical bovine livestock
and the amount of value the Bitcoin network pays on average for a Watt-hour of energy. The quatities shown
below update on every page load to reflect the current values for the price of BTC in USD, network block
reward, and average block transaction volume. See <a href="https://github.com/TtheBC01/cow.py/blob/main/cow.py">cow.py</a>
for the implementation of the calculations presented here.
</p>
<p>
According to the <a href="https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/searchdirective/Agricultural%20Waste%20Management%20Field%20Handbook">Agricultural Waste
Management Field Handbook</a>, a cow can produce between
<a href="https://directives.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files2/1712930943/17165.pdf"> <strong
class="pop" id="minkgwaste1"></strong> and <strong class="pop" id="maxkgwaste1"></strong> pounds of
waste per day</a> based on a normalized <em>animal unit</em> of <strong class="pop">1000</strong> lbs (i.e.
every <strong class="pop">1000</strong> lbs of bovine live
stock produces between <strong class="pop" id="minkgwaste2"></strong> and <strong class="pop" id="maxkgwaste2"></strong> lbs of manure per
day). Furthermore, research suggests that cow manure
outgases between <a
href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324976649_Biogas_Production_from_Different_Types_of_Cow_Manure#:~:text=The%20methane%20yield%20was%20found,%2Fkg%20VS"><strong
class="pop" id="minmethaneyield"></strong>
and <strong class="pop" id="maxmethaneyield"></strong> L of methane per kg of
manure</a>.
This equates to <strong class="pop" id="minkgproduction"></strong> to <strong class="pop" id="maxkgproduction"></strong> kg of methane gas
production per day assuming the density of methane at <a
href="https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/methane-d_1420.html">standard
temperature and pressure is <strong class="pop" id="methanedensitystp"></strong> g/L</a>. A kilogram of methane gas contains
approximately
<a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/heat-values-of-various-fuels.aspx"><strong
class="pop">50</strong>MJ
of
energy</a>.
Modern methane-based electric generators
can operate at a thermodynamic efficiency in the <a
href="https://www.yanmar.com/global/about/technology/technical_review/2016/0727_1.html#:~:text=The%20BP%2DG%20power%20generation,23.3MJ%2FNm3">range
of
<strong class="pop" id="generatorefficiency"></strong>%</a>.
Assuming <strong class="pop">86400</strong> seconds in a day, a cow produces approximately <strong
class="pop" id="mincowjoulespersecond"></strong> to <strong class="pop" id="maxcowjoulesjpersecond"></strong> Watts (J/s) of usable
electric power from RNG.
</p>
<p>
A Bitcoin transaction is estimated to require <a
href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/08/18/how-much-energy-does-bitcoin-use/">approximately <strong
class="pop" id="kwhpertx"></strong>
kWh</a>
of energy to confirm. Based on current network activity, there are on average
<a href="https://www.blockchain.com/charts/n-transactions-per-block"><strong class="pop" id="txperblock"></strong>
transactions per block</a>
mined in the Bitcoin network. Therefore, a block requires, on average, <strong class="pop" id="mwhperblock"></strong> MWh
of energy to mine.
</p>
<p>
The current block reward in the Bitcoin network is <a
href="https://www.investopedia.com/bitcoin-halving-4843769#:~:text=As%20of%202022%2C%20Bitcoin%20miners,the%20block%20reward%20approaches%20zero."><strong
class="pop" id="blockreward"></strong>
BTC per block</a>.
As of <a id="date"></a>, the price of BTC is around $<a
href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin"><strong class="pop" id="btcspotprice"></strong></a>.
So, a new block is worth at least $<strong class="pop" id="dollarsperblock"></strong> plus transaction fees associated
with the mined
transactions which are currently negligible in comparison to the block reward. This is equivalent to
saying the Bitcoin network pays ~$<strong class="pop" id="dollarsperwatt"></strong> per Watt-hour to secure the network.
</p>
<p>
If a cow produces ~<strong class="pop" id="mincowmegajoulesperday"></strong> to <strong class="pop" id="maxcowmegajoulesperday"></strong> MJ of usable (i.e.
accounting for generator efficiency) energy
per day in the form of RNG, and said cow is paid fair market rate from the Bitcoin network for
its RNG-based electric output, the cow should earn about $<strong class="pop" id="mincowmonthlyearnings"></strong> to $<strong
class="pop" id="maxcowmonthlyearnings"></strong> per month. If you assume
a <strong class="pop" id="parasiticloss"></strong>% reduction in output due to various parasitic losses in RNG capture and
conversion
to electricity as well as an additional <strong class="pop" id="downtimeloss"></strong>% reduction due to unplanned outages,
downtime
due to upgrades, etc., then the cow's conservative earning potential is in the ballpark of $<strong
class="pop" id="minconservativemonthlyearnings"></strong>
to $<strong class="pop" id="maxconservativemonthlyearnings"></strong> per month.
</p>
<p>
Copyright 2023 <a href="https://toddchapman.io">toddchapman.io</a>
</p>
<script type="py" src="./cow.py" config="./pyscript.json"></script>
</body>
</html>