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For the last five years, a loud hum has been a continual backdrop to birdsong and the occasional barking dog in the village of Dresden, New York state.

Coming from the nearby Greenidge Generation power plant, which had been mothballed for years before, the sound has angered some local people.

"It's an annoyance," says Ellen Campbell, who owns a house on Seneca Lake a short distance away. "If I sit out by the lake, I would rather not hear that.

"We didn't sign up for the constant hum."

The issue here in Dresden, a village of about 300 people surrounded by winding country roads, single-track rail lines and farms growing grapes and hops, sounds like a familiar story about the tension between nature-loving locals and economic development.

But their annoyance is also a signal of something less expected – policies of US President Donald Trump meeting resistance from people in the rural areas whose votes drove his return to the White House.

And the cause? Bitcoin mining.

An energy-intensive process that relies on powerful computers to create and protect the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin mining has grown rapidly in the country over recent years. The current administration, unlike Joe Biden's, is intent on encouraging the industry.

Trump has said he wants to turn the US into the crypto-mining capital of the world, announcing in June 2024 that "we want all the remaining Bitcoin to be made in the USA". This has implications for rural communities throughout the US – many of whom voted for Trump.

Installations like the one at the power plant near Dresden are appearing across the country, drawn by record-high cryptocurrency prices and cheap and abundant energy to power the computers that do the mining. There are at least 137 Bitcoin mines in the US across 21 states, and reports indicate there are many more planned. According to estimates by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), Bitcoin mining uses up to 2.3% of the nation's grid.

The high energy use and its wider environmental impact is certainly causing some concern in Dresden.

But it's the unmistakable hum that is the soundtrack for discontent in many places with Bitcoin mines - produced by the fans used to cool the computers, it can range from a mechanical whirr to a deafening din.

"We can hear a constant buzzing," says another Dresden resident, Lori Fishline. "It's a constant, loud humming noise that you just can't ignore. It was never present before and has definitely affected the peaceful atmosphere of our bay."

Such is Ms Campbell's annoyance with Trump's Bitcoin backing, her political allegiance to the Republicans is being tested. "Right now I'm not real happy about that party," she says.

The conflict in Seneca Lake is being played out nationwide, which could pose problems for a White House intent on pursuing a pro-cryptocurrency agenda.

A little over 100 miles west of Dresden, a backlash in the US border town of Niagara Falls prompted the local Mayor Robert Restaino - a Democrat - to issue a moratorium on new mining activity in December 2021, and the following year noise limits of 40 to 50 decibels near residential areas were imposed. He said: "The noise pollution of this industry is like nothing else."

Locals described the sound as similar to that of a 747 jet, or as grating as having a toothache 24 hours a day, claiming that the noise drowned out the sound of the nearby waterfalls.

And in Granbury, Texas, a 24ft-high sound barrier was erected in 2023 at a mining site after residents complained to public officials that the nonstop roar was keeping them awake and giving them migraines.

All these Bitcoin operations opened before Trump's return to the White House. But the opposition they have generated suggests public officials in........

© BBC