Conserv[ing] sources of wasted energy without the need for invasive infrastructure. In terms of resources, even if you had a fully effective way to convert was

Conserv[ing] sources of wasted energy without the need for invasive infrastructure. In terms of resources, even if you had a fully effective way to convert waste natural gas into bitcoin, you would still be entirely "wasting resources" since the mined bitcoin would simply change who had claim to the resources (and such conversion is unlikely, see other comments). That is because currency is ultimately just a claim on resources - ie, imagine I had a natural-gas powered printing press that produced dollars, would I be "saving resources?"