U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced a new bill aiming to turn waste energy into electricity for Bitcoin mining.
The Facilitate Lower Atmospheric Released Emissions (FLARE) Act, introduced on March 31, is geared towards making waste energy productive by capturing gas that would otherwise be flared or vented. The plan is to incentivise this capture by offering full expensing for property used to capture that gas.
Cruz specifically pointed to crypto mining as a direct output of this extra energy. In a statement announcing the bill’s introduction, he said that it, “takes advantage of Texas’s vast energy potential, reinforces our position as the home of the Bitcoin industry, and is good for the environment.”
The Senator affirmed his commitment to “making Texas the number one place for Bitcoin mining,” adding that the FLARE Act, “incentivizes entrepreneurs and crypto miners to use natural gas that would otherwise be stranded.”
The U.S. focused bill specifically names competitive countries that shall not be allowed to participate in the scheme, including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
In a press release from Cruz’s office, Hailey Miller, Director of Government Relations & Public Policy at the Digital Power Network, praised the new bill, saying that Bitcoin miners are “uniquely positioned to help reduce emissions by harnessing stranded and wasted energy sources.” Miller added that the FLARE Act “ensures that American energy producers have the tools to deploy cutting-edge solutions that make our energy markets more efficient and resilient.”
The new Act would specifically, “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for permanent full expensing for property used to capture gas that would otherwise be flared or vented and to use such gas in value-added products.”
This measure should also help to enhance grid resilience while offering new electricity and “other useful outputs.”
Cruz’s bill comes after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to ensure that “all remaining Bitcoin” would be mined in the U.S. as part of his reelection campaign. Bitcoin advocates have long held that mining the cryptocurrency could be a means of harnessing waste energy from natural gas flaring, the practice of burning off excess gas that can’t be economically captured or transported.
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