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Bitcoin Mining And The Environment | Earth Wise

November 7, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Bitcoin mining, the process by which the prominent cryptocurrency is created, is well-known to be energy intensive, but the environmental impact of it has not been extensively studied. People have described Bitcoin as ‘digital gold.’ A new analysis by researchers at the University of New Mexico has found that Bitcoin mining shouldn’t be compared to gold mining. It is more appropriately compared to the creation of much more energy-intensive products such as beef, natural gas, and crude oil.

Furthermore, the study found that rather than becoming more sustainable over time, Bitcoin mining is becoming dirtier and more damaging to the climate as long as it relies upon fossil-fuel generated electricity. Estimates are that in 2020, Bitcoin mining used 75.4 terawatt hours of electricity, which is more electricity than the entire country of Austria, as well as 150 other nations around the world.

The study looked at the economic cost of the air pollution and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining and found that in many instances, the negative economic impact of creating a single Bitcoin is more than what the resultant coin is worth.

Based on the market value of Bitcoins, the cost of climate damage for that value is a little less that that of electricity produced by natural gas and gasoline produced from crude oil, but actually more than that of beef production.

There are multiple cryptocurrencies. Ether is one that voluntarily switched away from so-called proof-of-work mining. Whether Bitcoin or others will act similarly absent potential regulation remains to be seen. Until such time, Bitcoin mining remains an increasingly dirty and damaging business.

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Technology: UNM researchers find Bitcoin mining is environmentally unsustainable

Photo, posted May 11, 2017, courtesy of Komers Real via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Bitcoin And Energy Use | Earth Wise

October 6, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In recent years we’ve heard more and more about cryptocurrencies. They are digital currencies managed by a decentralized network of users. No country, person, or other entity controls the value of a cryptocurrency. Some people think that they will ultimately replace traditional currencies.

The eventual status of cryptocurrencies can be debated endlessly but there is one thing that is certain: in the process of simply existing as they do today, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin consume astonishing amounts of electricity.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, uses about half a percent of all the electricity consumed in the world. The process of creating Bitcoin consumes over 90 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, which is more than the entire country of Finland with its 5.5 million people. Where does all the energy go?

The answer is something called Bitcoin mining. It is the process by which new Bitcoins are created. It is something like playing a lottery. Miners effectively have to guess an extremely long number called the “target hash” in order to be awarded Bitcoins. There is no magic formula to finding the answer. It isn’t really advanced math; it is brute force searching among trillions of possibilities. Specialized computer equipment is designed to make as many guesses as possible as quickly as possible. The faster the electronic circuits and the more of them there are, the better the chances are of beating out other miners to win the mining lottery. As a result, the amount of power-hungry computing equipment dedicated across the globe to mining Bitcoins has mushroomed.

Whether it pays to be a Bitcoin miner is increasingly difficult, but those that are doing it are consuming extraordinary amounts of energy in the effort to make a few more digital bucks.

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Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries. How Is That Possible?

Photo, posted February 14, 2018, courtesy of Stock Catalog via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cryptocurrency And Climate Change

January 23, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros. They are produced by people and businesses using computer software to perform the necessary complex calculations. A bitcoin is essentially a line of computer code that’s signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. Bitcoin is the most prominent example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency.