https://m.slashdot.org/story/333535
It look like Bitcoin is not very “clean” technology:
Bitcoin’s incredible price run to break over $7,000 this year has sent its overall electricity consumption soaring, as people worldwide bring more energy-hungry computers online to mine the digital currency.
Bitcoin miners burn through over 24 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. This averages out to a shocking 215 kilowatt-hours (KWh) of juice used by miners for each Bitcoin transaction (there are currently about 300,000 transactions per day).
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Bitcoin Mining Now Consuming More Electricity Than 159 Countries Including Ireland & Most Countries In Africa
https://powercompare.co.uk/bitcoin/
Bitcoin’s ongoing meteoric price rise has received the bulk of recent press attention with a lot of discussion around whether or not it’s a bubble waiting to burst.
However, most the coverage has missed out one of the more interesting and unintended consequences of this price increase. That is the surge in global electricity consumption used to “mine” more Bitcoins.
According to Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, as of Monday November 20th, 2017 Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05TWh.
That’s the equivalent of 0.13% of total global electricity consumption.
If Bitcoin miners were a country they’d rank 61st in the world in terms of electricity consumption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can You Mine Cryptocurrency With a Tesla? A Feasibility Study
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8x5wy5/cryptocurrency-tesla-bitcoin-mine-ethereum?utm_campaign=sharebutton
Someone claimed to use their Tesla to power a cryptocurrency mine. But would this wild idea actually be worth it?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bitcoinien louhintaan kuluva energia vastaa jo yli kolmannesta koko Suomen sähkönkulutuksesta
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/bitcoinien-louhintaan-menee-energiaa-jo-yli-kolmannes-koko-suomen-sahkonkulutuksesta/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Most Powerful Computer Network Is Being Wasted
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2013/12/02/most-powerful-computer-network-is-being-wasted/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The energy consumption of the crypto world
https://medium.com/thebeammagazine/the-energy-consumption-of-the-crypto-world-b20e3628e0d2
The bitcoin mining network now consumes more electricity than 159 countries of the world
Key stats:
42.67 TWh: The annual energy consumption of Bitcoin and Ethereum combined
0.19%: The percentage of the world’s electricity used by Bitcoin and Ethereum
8.49: The number of U.S. households that could be powered for a full day with the same energy as single bitcoin transaction
It has been widely reported that the bitcoin mining network now consumes more electricity than 159 countries of the world. The huge energy consumption is down to the way bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate. In order to avoid fraud, there is no centralised authority validating transactions. Instead, they are validated by miners who process blocks of cryptocurrency transactions in return for a reward in the form of coins.
According the BECI, each bitcoin transaction consumes 251 KWh of electricity.
Given that there are around 300,000 bitcoin transactions every day, this equates to a lot of homes that could be powered.
For the cryptocurrency Ethereum, which is second in popularity after bitcoin, the energy usage is still extremely high. Overall it uses 11.07 TWh of electricity, which is just over a third of that of bitcoin.
If this is the current energy consumption of cryptocurrencies, what does the future hold? As more and more people rush to get involved in the new market, the amount of miners will only increase, along with the amount of energy consumed. Is it possible to make cryptocurrencies sustainable?
There are some potential solutions being mooted for the energy problem. Austrian startup HydroMiner is using renewable hydropower to operate its mining servers. Similarly NastyMining is using solar and wind energy to mine for bitcoin in a green way. Then there is the Harvest project, which is using wind energy to mine cryptocurrency that will then be used for climate change research. These solutions work on a small scale
Reducing the amount of energy that each cryptocurrency transaction uses is another way to make it more sustainable. This is something that Ethereum is working towards by switching to a different model of verification. The bitcoin community is also working on the Lightning Network which will enable more transactions on the network without using more power.
Yet neither of these changes are imminent, meaning that for now energy consumption rates are locked at the high level.
The gold rush on cryptocurrency isn’t showing any signs of abatement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrency’s Estimated Draw on World Resources Could Power Bangladesh
http://www.electronicdesign.com/power/cryptocurrency-s-estimated-draw-world-resources-could-power-bangladesh?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20180502_ED-003_605&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=17046&utm_medium=email&elq2=f8a135d001bd433e8c8c34e45863e79a
Is the phenomenon of cryptocurrency sustainable? A number of factors come into play here, but as it expands, power consumption and requisite cost become the main issues.
When it comes to mining cryptocurrency and how much power is consumed during mining operations globally, nobody knows for sure. However, based on varied utility costs alone, it’s estimated at 53.99 TWh, or enough energy to power the country of Bangladesh annually, according to the Digiconomist Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index—a website dedicated to providing in-depth analysis regarding cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets (currencies) designed for use as a medium of exchange in the same fashion as traditional assets or money. However, they use cryptography to secure transactions as well as control the creation of additional units and the verification of transfer assets. Most, such as Bitcoin and other altcoins, are decentralized, with control mitigated through blockchains. Blockchains are continuously growing lists of records that form blocks (i.e., ledger) containing a cryptographic hash (mathematical algorithm), which makes it tough to alter the data and therefore makes the digital currency secure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bitcoin has an immense environmental footprint, using as much energy as corporations and countries, and scores low on ESG, says Bank of America.
Bitcoin uses more energy than American Airlines and each $1 billion in inflows is equal to owning 1.2 million cars, Bank of America says
https://trib.al/SsaxXZQ
Bank of America research shows bitcoin’s immense environmental footprint.
It is one one of the biggest carbon-emitting sectors, on a par with huge firms and even the US federal government.
Other less climate-related concerns include use of bitcoin in cybercrime such as money laundering.