Dr. Owen Vaughan explains why Bitcoin is green technology

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Dr. Owen Vaughan appeared on the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream this week, where he discussed the launch of BitRoots, a startup offering a way to confirm that bitcoins were mined with green energy. Enjoy this deep dive into Bitcoin mining, sustainability, and related topics!

Who is Dr. Owen Vaughan?

Dr. Vaughan is a mathematician who initially intended to have a career in academia. However, he quickly realized the lifestyle, requiring lots of travel and accepting positions worldwide, wasn’t conducive to healthy relationships or a balanced life, so he moved into data science.

In 2018, a friend encouraged him to get involved in Bitcoin research. He “took a punt” and hasn’t looked back since. It’s a great area for original research, he said, because almost every question is being asked for the first time.

After seven fruitful years at nChain, Dr. Vaughan decided the next step was to launch BitRoots, providing a way to confirm a bitcoin was mined with renewable energy.

How supportive have the people in his life been about this pivot? Dr. Vaughan said he was 39 and already had a PhD before he felt he had the right to try. As a recently married man with his first child on the way, he knew it was time to give it a shot.

Is Bitcoin green tech?

Critics of proof-of-work (PoW) imagine a dystopian future where Bitcoin mining boils the oceans, poisons the air, and wrecks the environment. However, being a miner himself, Wuckert knows this isn’t true. He asks a simple question: Is Bitcoin green tech?

Dr. Vaughan answers in the affirmative: Bitcoin is completely clean technology. It doesn’t create any emissions in and of itself; it simply consumes power and produces heat.

Not only can miners use renewable energy to solve hash puzzles, but there are interesting ways to use the heat they produce. For example, in Finland, the heat generated from Bitcoin mining is stored in sand blocks— sand batteries—which are then transported to heat buildings.

Due to all of this and more, perceptions on Bitcoin mining are slowly changing. Dr. Vaughan hopes his company can play a role in changing the perception of those who still erroneously believe Bitcoin is environmentally harmful.

Vaughan begins by saying that he’d be very proud to own a Bitcoin that was certifiably mined using renewable energy, and he believes many others would, too. In fact, this is just the sort of thing family offices and ESG-conscious corporations would boast about.

Regarding Wuckert’s question, BitRoots audits facilities and issues certificates for one year. While there is some challenge with pools, some issue block rewards directly to miners, so they don’t all pose the same problems.

Ordinals play a role in all of this, too. They can help track every satoshi. BitRoots also has an API that will allow exchanges to offer certifiably clean coins.

What is the average carbon emission per coin? Cambridge University published a paper showing that each coin releases 242 tonnes of CO2. Many look to offset this with carbon credits, but Dr. Vaughan isn’t a big fan of them since they vary significantly in quality and cost. He prefers direct carbon reduction.

What does BitRoots look like in two or three years?

The immediate goal is to help interested parties see what’s possible and how BitRoots can help them comply with Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and other regulations.

Dr. Vaughan points to a mining operation in Ethiopia as an example. Thanks to its massive hydro dam, the Ethiopian government generated approximately $200 million from Bitcoin mining operations. Connecting parties like this with companies that would be proud to own such clean coins is a great first step.

To hear more about BitRoots, how Bitcoin mining incentivized renewable energy adoption, and why all of this matters, check out the livestream episode here.

Watch: Bitcoin mining in 2025: Is it still worth it?