Could Bitcoin mining be used to heat Vancouver’s Kitsilano Pool?

A pitch to use the heat from bitcoin mining to warm the beleaguered Kits Pool is on the agenda at a crypto conference where the mayor will be speaking.

A Vancouver group believes it has a solution to address financial and structural issues with the city’s popular Kitsilano Pool – Bitcoin mining.

Jarret Vaughan, with Kits Pool Swimmers, said he wants the pool to stay open year-round, and to maintain its length during an upcoming rebuilding process, but recognizes it will be very expensive.

“In searching for a solution, what we discovered was that Bitcoin mining produces an enormous amount of heat,” he said.

There are organizations such as Burnaby-based MintGreen that make digital boilers that capture heat, Vaughn said, suggesting that extra heat from mining Bitcoin could be used to warm the pool.

“What’s really important to understand is that with Bitcoin mining, there is no additional energy needed to heat the pool,” he said.

‘Run the system 24/7’

Colin Sullivan, the CEO and founder of MintGreen, said depending on a number of factors, the system could generate two Bitcoin per month – and he believes the digital boilers could alter the pool’s future.

“The benefit to the city is you have an opportunity to run the system 24/7, 365 and not only not have that be a cost, but have that be a profit centre to heat it as well,” he said.

Vaughan, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, said he’s had discussions with the park board and Mayor Ken Sim about the feasibility of the idea.

The city confirmed staff met with the group earlier this year as part of the preliminary feasibility study for the Kitsilano Pool replacement.

“If the city and park board decide to pursue alternative heating technologies in the future, potential providers would be considered through the city’s standard procurement process to ensure fairness, transparency and competitiveness,” the city said, in a statement.

Greenwashing

Werner Antweiler, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, called the idea an exercise in Bitcoin greenwashing.

“The proponents want to make Bitcoin mining look ‘sustainable’ even though Bitcoin mining overall is a highly environmentally destructive activity because of its outsized electricity use worldwide,” he said.

Antweiler also questioned what the municipality would do if the digital boiler failed to make a profit and had to be shut down.

“Would the municipality be without heating for their pool?” he asked. “Would they have to replace it with another source? There are too many uncertainties here for a municipality to take on such a risk.”

Bitcoin conference

Both Vaughan and Sullivan will be discussing this proposal in a panel called “Heating Kitsilano Pool with Bitcoin Mining,” scheduled this weekend at the Learning Bitcoin conference.

Sim will also be speaking at the conference during a talk called “Bitcoin and the City of Vancouver.”

Green Coun. Pete Fry said there’s a number of important issues Sim should focus on, and that crypto is not one of them.

“Similar to dismissing the park board, these seem to be the priorities of the mayor that are disconnected from what I think the people of Vancouver are looking for in leadership,” he said. “That’s not crypto investments.”

The mayor’s office told CTV News: “Mayor Sim’s focus remains on the priorities that matter most to Vancouverites: making our city safer, building more housing, faster, and making life more affordable for all residents.”

In December, 2024 City Council passed Sim’s motion asking staff to make the city “bitcoin friendly.”

Staff are expected to present this report in the Fall.