- UK farms can now convert pig manure into electricity to power AI data centres
- Powering compute generates 10 times the income by selling this energy to the grid
- Cryptocurrency mining helps farms recover investment costs in just four years
A UK farm is now using electricity generated from pig manure to power a small AI data center, allowing the otherwise agricultural facility to house its own decentralized hub powered by a type of renewable energy.
Among the most important advantages is that the energy is both generated and consumed on site, which makes it highly efficient. The process works by using an anaerobic digester to convert pig manure into biogas, which is then converted into electricity.
The first site, in north-west England, is run by Easy Compute through its Green Compute network, which installed and manages computing hardware on farms.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
According to the report, a sale of renewable energy like this to the grid typically brings in around 8-12 pence per kWh, or about one-third to one-half of the cost consumers pay per kWh at home. But Easy Compute claims that using electricity for AI computing can actually lead to generating 10 times as much income, with its biggest partners reportedly earning tens of thousands of pounds a month from computing services.
Importantly, the additional income can help to offset investments in renewable energy, which can partially drive other agricultural activities. Anaerobic digesters would normally take 12-15 years to pay back their costs, the company says, but this can be reduced to around four years by installing a computer network and leasing capacity to companies on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Customers are given the choice of paying with the network’s own token to receive a 10% discount on computation credits, as well as assurance that the underlying computation is powered by verified renewable energy, which can be an important consideration for those with specific ESG goals.
Does the future of data centers look less centralized, more persistent?
Green Compute is also connecting some of its hardware to Bittensor, a blockchain-based AI network. When commercial customer demand drops, the farm’s computers can even switch to earning cryptocurrency to keep them financially productive around the clock, speeding up the all-important payback period.
Crucially, these decentralized data centers could close some of the gaps created by hyperscale AI data centers that face increased scrutiny, local resistance, and backlash.
“We’re taking waste that a farm already has, turning it into clean power and pointing that power to the computers the AI industry is desperate for,” noted CEO Josh Riddett.
This, of course, comes at an important time for British agriculture, which is currently under enormous pressure from government policy to generate food and other goods with dwindling rewards. Not only can they earn an additional income stream and recoup their investment in renewable energy more quickly, but they can also incorporate this renewable energy into their regular farming operations to reduce operating costs.
“The farmer is earning far more than they would online – and now they can earn cryptocurrency on top of that through networks like Bittensor,” added Riddett.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds.
