Thirdly, I was inspired by GAM’s growth. In December 2019, GAM had one TraMM operational. Then, heading into the lockdowns, it kept its head down, and worked on refining and perfecting its trailers, and growing its fleet to three just one year later by January 2021.
A global pandemic and the halting of economies clearly did little to stymy the ambitions of Bitcoiners. By February 2022 (11 months later), its fleet now numbers 27 fully-deployed TraMMs in total. With its mining rigs operational at 12 different sites across North Dakota, that’s just over 20 megawatts of hash rate. According to the company, GAM is currently able to produce four new units per month, and is working on an expansion to its manufacturing facility to scale this up to 12 per month by the fall of this year.
What Does The Future Hold?
And now, for the really, really exciting part. Consider the current landscape we find ourselves in. Fossil fuels have been demonized aggressively over the past 10 years, at least. The U.S. sanctioned Russian oil, while the EU struggles to figure out what to do, as Russia was its largest fossil fuel provider . Meanwhile India is forced by circumstance to buy discounted Russian crude. The United States has found itself having to aggressively rethink domestic oil and gas production, in conjunction with its northern neighbors in Canada .
As noted, natural gas is a consistent byproduct of oil production, and GAM is proving there is high demand for its product in the state of North Dakota. GAM provides an opportunity for oil producers to monetize their gas flaring instead of just “lighting money on fire,” as Sellner likes to put it. North Dakota’s oil producers can’t flare their gas fast enough to meet oil demand. The demand for this strong, synergistic pairing of fossil fuels and bitcoin mining has plenty of running room without ramped-up domestic production.
The future looks bright when you combine Great American Mining’s entrepreneurship and oil and gas operations in the U.S.
The future looks bright for this young company. While most of the world still attacks bitcoin mining’s implied environmental damage, this company and others like it are quietly solving massive energy and environmental problems that will only continue as our need for oil and energy grows.
There’s a particular type of beauty that accompanies North Dakota’s oil and gas operations while viewed by crossing the country in the middle of the night. If you’re ever visiting this region of the United States, I recommend traveling through the New Town area when the evening is at its zenith, and the world feels still. You’ll know you’re approaching when you notice the recognizable atmospheric glow of city lights against the night sky… only it isn’t city lights that are glowing.
It’s the flaring towers.
This is a guest post by Mike Hobart. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.