Bitcoin Mining Pavilion

Synopsis: Providing an overview of bitcoin mining, Giga Energy co-founder Brent Whitehead will explain how bitcoin and flared gas collide and why bitcoin is the best solution to flaring. He will also discuss emissions reduction with flare gas in bitcoin mining.

Speaker Bio

Brent Whitehead is the co-founder of Giga Energy. Giga provides flare mitigation by deploying onsite power generation and bitcoin data centers. Giga focuses on being a vertically integrated natural gas bitcoin mining company. Whitehead comes from an oil background, which led him to entrepreneurial ventures in the energy space. He attended Texas A&M University, where he studied industrial distribution.

Synopsis: Bitcoin mining’s location agnostic, high energy consumption and flexible load profile are perfectly suited to strengthen, grow and incubate global energy grids with the right regulatory framework. Bitcoin mining is a true 0 to 1 innovation that represents the democratization of energy innovation. The world needs more reliable and affordable power and bitcoin mining combined with the capabilities of the oil & gas industry ushers in an energy revolution that will dwarf the industrial revolution and elevate human prosperity.

Speaker Bio

Gideon O. Powell is the chairman & CEO of Cholla Inc., a private exploration & development company. Under his leadership, Cholla continues oil and gas exploration company while also leading the company's investments in energy opportunities such as bitcoin mining and energy campus development. In early 2017, Powell stepped away from his day-to-day role at Cholla to study the global power markets for investable CO₂ utilization projects. Through this work, he and his team identified bitcoin mining as a demand response opportunity to help strengthen the ERCOT grid, alleviating the intermittency problems caused by renewable energy. This led Powell and his team to develop HODL Ranch — the world’s first hyperscale bitcoin mining campus. Located in Ward County, Texas, HODL Ranch was home of the first load only controllable load resource in ERCOT.

Powell is passionate about wildcatting, energy markets, bottom-up innovation, individual liberty and building strong communities. He spends his spare time on supporting criminal justice reform, scouting new bitcoin mining campuses opportunities and enjoying time with friends and family. He is actively involved as an adviser to Buried Alive, an initiative focused on ending mass incarceration in America and is a member of Stand Together, a philanthropic organization that empowers people dedicated to helping others improve their lives. He serves on the advisory board of the MIT Energy Club and resides in Dallas with his wife and four children.

Synopsis: A discussion of how digital flare mitigation has quickly evolved from a fringe concept to an embedded gas capture and ESG strategy for a growing number of private and public operators. Listeners are invited to learn more about the modular technologies and operating models that have helped some of the world's largest producers solve some of their most difficult flaring challenges while achieving critical environmental and economic goals.

Speaker Bio

Cully Cavness is the co-founder, president, chief operating officer and member of the board of directors at Crusoe Energy Systems, an energy technology company that captures stranded energy to power modular datacenters and improves the environmental performance of both the energy and technology industries. The company has become one of the largest privately held cryptocurrency mining businesses in North America and operates a cloud computing platform with industry-leading climate and cost performance. His leadership experience at Crusoe has included building a high functioning team of more than 130 professionals encompassing engineering, technology, business development, finance, law, operations and administration. As a co-founder, Cavness also has held key roles in more than $250 million of fundraising with venture, project and credit capital investors. Crusoe's investors include G2VP, Inclusive Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Mubadala, OIA, Founders Fund, Bain Capital Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Polychain Capital, Winklevoss Capital, Lowercrabon Capital and others.

Prior to launching Crusoe, his background focused on energy technology and resource development as well as investment banking. Cavness holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from Middlebury College, an MBA from the University of Oxford and was a 2010 Watson Fellow in the subject of clean technology, policy and economics.