Cryptocurrency is a volatile investment property based around the ideas of decentralization and access created on a universal ledger called the blockchain. The blockchain universally distributes information, but because of its dispersive nature, there is currently no way to hack it, which has revolutionary implications across all industries.

The major challenge facing mining operations is that they consume a massive amount of electricity. Today, mining operations worldwide consume more energy than 159 individual countries, which could potentially cause substantial environmental problems. To mitigate the impact, using alternative energy sources such as geothermal and wind power will be imperative.

The alternative energy sector also has significant business model challenges such as distance, competing energy costs, and variations in demand. Often, wind power farmers will have to pay to transport energy to the electrical grid, and in some cases, that cost is higher than the money received, resulting in excess and sometimes wasted energy.

Where some see challenges, Troy Glick sees opportunities. He co-founded Electric Forge, an engineering company that utilizes excess renewable energy for blockchain validation, to create a turn-key solution to the energy problem inherent in mining operations. Electric Forge partnered with a wind farm in Northern Michigan, knowing that the cold northern climes would offset the heat generated from the servers and further reduce their energy costs. They established mobile pod server farms and placed them at windmill bases, ensuring that there would be no energy loss in the electricity transfer and allowing them to move the operation whenever necessary.

Electric Forge was a win for the wind farm as well since they were able to monetize formerly excess, wasted energy. The burden of effort fell entirely on Electric Forge, essentially setting up a passive income stream at the farm. In turn, Electric Forge got energy prices well below the cost of traditional fuel sources and alchemized formerly squandered energy into gold for both partners.