Maximum Yield USA June 2018 | Page 28

Bitcoin Farm Heats Five-Acre Czech Greenhouse A major side effect of the computer rigs and servers serious cryptominers run is plenty of heat (one low-level miner in Washington state said his three servers were enough to keep his house warm this winter). Kamil Brejcha, co-founder of Czech digital currency exchange NakamotoX, isn’t letting that warmth go to waste. He revealed on Twitter that the excess heat from his company’s cryptomining servers is blown into a five-acre greenhouse where they’re growing tomatoes—or ‘cryptomatoes,’ as he’s calling them. “Who would imagine that mining cryptocurrencies and agriculture can work together?” he wrote. “The first batch of ‘cryptomatoes’ is ready to be harvested. We are using the excess heat for the tomato greenhouse and it is working.” Brejcha says the greenhouse covers around five acres, adding the bitcoin mining operation is powered by bio-waste-produced energy. —munchies.vice.com Australian Farmer Looks to Share Urban Farming Knowledge A Melbourne farmer with big goals wants to share his urban farming knowledge by building a university-like campus in all major Australian cities. Jan Vydra plans to develop spaces where other farmers can learn about urban farming and see how it operates in a real-life setting. “What we really want to do now is take that concept and build a campus in each capital city, so we can localize produce and provide jobs to people in the industry that’s in a different format,” says Vydra, who is co-owner of Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs. His vision includes each facility having vertical farms, commercial production sites, and teaching spaces. Vydra’s plan begins with a Melbourne campus followed by others in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney. He completed a Nuffield Scholarship- funded study tour in 2016, allowing him to travel and see how other countries practice urban and vertical farming. —weeklytimesnow.com.au 28 Maximum Yield