• 2 min read
Pig slurry powers AI at UK farm
A farm in northwest England is using pig slurry to run a small AI data center, with operator Easy Compute claiming up to 10x more income than grid sales.
Image: TechRadar
A farm in northwest England is using electricity made from pig slurry to run a small AI data center, in a setup that operator Easy Compute says could transform the economics of on-farm renewable energy.
The system uses an anaerobic digester to turn pig waste into biogas, which is then converted into electricity. Instead of exporting that power to the grid, the farm consumes it on-site through Easy Compute’s Green Compute network, which installs and manages the computing hardware.
According to the report, selling renewable electricity to the grid typically brings in around 8–12 pence per kWh. Easy Compute says using that same power for AI workloads can generate 10x as much income, with its largest partners reportedly earning tens of thousands of pounds per month from computing services.
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That shift could dramatically shorten the payback period for farm energy projects. The company says anaerobic digesters normally take 12–15 years to repay their cost, but adding a computing network and renting out capacity to businesses on a pay-as-you-go basis could cut that to around four years.
Easy Compute also ties some of its hardware to Bittensor, a blockchain-based AI network. When commercial demand drops, the farm’s computers can switch to cryptocurrency generation, helping keep the hardware productive and accelerating returns.
“We take waste that a farm already has, turn it into clean power, and point that power at the computers the AI industry is desperate for.”
Customers can pay with the network’s own token for a 10% discount on compute credits, while also getting verification that the underlying computing is powered by renewable energy — a potential draw for companies with ESG targets.
The model arrives as large AI data centers face rising scrutiny, local opposition, and project delays. Easy Compute is pitching decentralized, farm-based sites as one way to fill some of that capacity gap, while giving British farmers a new revenue stream at a time of mounting economic pressure.
“The farmer earns far more than they would from the grid — and now they can earn cryptocurrency on top, through networks like Bittensor.”
Enterprise Editor
Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.
via TechRadar
