Bitcoin is Bad for the environment, taking the worlds energy - yes?

[CoinCarrie]

(I think this should go in mining)

There has been a lot of talk on this.  Quite a few good papers
https://karlodwyer.github.io/publications/pdf/bitcoin_KJOD_2014.pdf
From this paper: "Bitcoin mining is comparable to Ireland’s electricity consumption".



As bitcoin grows the amount of energy on the planet is not increasing. Anyone who understands the article, it seems very legitimate to me, discuss,   Yes, I realize the miner wants to reduce cost & cut waste.  Therefore they may seek alternative forms or desire to do so.  Yes, I read about the Hydrofarmer on this very forum.  It is just not the norm with all the major miners around the planet.  Proof of work is expensive. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_work

**Title was sarcastic.  But it is still something to think about?

[shinratensei_]

(I think this should go in mining)

There has been a lot of talk on this.  Quite a few good papers
https://karlodwyer.github.io/publications/pdf/bitcoin_KJOD_2014.pdf
From this paper: "Bitcoin mining is comparable to Ireland’s electricity consumption".



As bitcoin grows the amount of energy on the planet is not increasing. Anyone who understands the article, it seems very legitimate to me, discuss,   Yes, I realize the miner wants to reduce cost & cut waste.  Therefore they may seek alternative forms or desire to do so.  Yes, I read about the Hydrofarmer on this very forum.  It is just not the norm with all the major miners around the planet.  Proof of work is expensive. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_work

**Title was sarcastic.  But it is still something to think about?

"As bitcoin grows the amount of energy on the planet is not increasing"
Bitcoin mining it was consuming a lot of energy, and more people conduct mining activities it's it is not directly proportional to the increase in energy on the planet,even it's only waste a lot of the energy just for the benefit of one-sided.

[InvoKing]

To be honest we should compare the consumption of electricity used in bitcoin vs the electricity used in all the banks of the world, the machines that make the money...etc meanwhile we have to encourage the use of the clean sources of energy for bitcoin mining.
Back to the bad for environment things, bitcoin is way less ''toxic'' than the factories gases & wastes, the oil mines...etc and consume less energy
Bitcoin haters have a weird vision of things  

[gentlemand]

Mining uses more power than a country of 4-5 million people? Each of whom have washing machines, vibrators, Teslas, streetlamps outside their houses, trams and on and on.

I'm sure Bitcoin's carbon footprint is a disgrace considering the tiny number of users, but that seems like an excessive statistic.

[Carlton Banks]

The whole anthropogenic global warming debate is nothing more than a very smart way of making the people of the world pay government cronies for the right to breathe. Several doomsday scenarios were predicted to have struck midnight by the year 2016, and none of them have come to pass. Natural climate change is much, much more powerful than 0.01% changes in CO² atmospheric composition that burning fossil fuels has contributed; Bitcoin mining compares to the previous 2 factors as an infinitesimally small blip. OP is FUD.

[BitcoinPaw]

I think that we can say same about everything that taking worlds energy, people just trying to make money with any possible ways and bitcoin is one of them, nothing critical.

[manselr]

It takes resources to keep secure decentralized money running, so its energy well spent, we are getting freedom with Bitcoin, freedom is not cheap.

[josephmayer]

Wow, a perspective I have not had the pleasure of knowing! Though I don't completely agree with whats said, it is an eye opening article. Thanks for Sharing




My Site
http://www.EliteTranslingo.com

[Rizky Aditya]

I think that we already have so much extra energy that people don't use, it is better to use it for something good like mining Bitcoin. Banks probably use the same amount of energy as a Bitcoin farm. And there are far less Bitcoin farms compared to banks.

[CoinCarrie]

The whole anthropogenic global warming debate is nothing more than a very smart way of making the people of the world pay government cronies for the right to breathe. Several doomsday scenarios were predicted to have struck midnight by the year 2016, and none of them have come to pass. Natural climate change is much, much more powerful than 0.01% changes in CO² atmospheric composition that burning fossil fuels has contributed; Bitcoin mining compares to the previous 2 factors as an infinitesimally small blip. OP is FUD.

Did you read and understand the research?  The author is hardly a "Nazi environmentalist".  There are other journals out there which suggest the same.  Though they seem to be a little bias.  Which part of the research do you disagree with?

[angaper]

Every economic activity (and even every human activity) leaves a carbon footprint, but actually I don't think bitcoin mining is an important factor to affect the worldwide environment so much. Paper money has previously affected much more, and mining to get the necessary metals to minting coins has been much more damaging.

[disclaimer201]

Maybe decentralization and solar power can play a role in the future of mining. Chinese mega farms are run by coal power plants and are more dependent on bitcoin's price and profitability. Lots of people with solar panels on their roof (and perhaps battery/accu solutions in their basement) could sustain the network even if the big farms can no longer turn a profit while considerably hurting the environment. Home miners can and always have used the heat from mining to heat their houses in winter, spring and fall. They would need to "waste" that heat in one way or another, so using it for securing the btc network is a reasonable purpose/bonus. Sure, mining on solar power will not sustain a big farm (depending on your house I guess) but bitcoin would still work without the mega farms. All that needs to happen is a considerable price correction, unfortunately.

[groll]

(I think this should go in mining)

There has been a lot of talk on this.  Quite a few good papers
https://karlodwyer.github.io/publications/pdf/bitcoin_KJOD_2014.pdf
From this paper: "Bitcoin mining is comparable to Ireland’s electricity consumption".



As bitcoin grows the amount of energy on the planet is not increasing. Anyone who understands the article, it seems very legitimate to me, discuss,   Yes, I realize the miner wants to reduce cost & cut waste.  Therefore they may seek alternative forms or desire to do so.  Yes, I read about the Hydrofarmer on this very forum.  It is just not the norm with all the major miners around the planet.  Proof of work is expensive. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_work

**Title was sarcastic.  But it is still something to think about?

I have read that paper. But i dont think it will be a matter since there are mining farms right now that are using solar power. I think its halleybtc and cryptomining.farm that uses solar power. If new generation minng farms will use alternative energy then power consumption is no longer a problem.

[xuan87]

Its true that bitcoin mining activity consumes a lot of energy, but it can be handle with solar power and other other solution and if thats is being handled i dont think bitcoin is bad for environment again

[Btcvilla]

This years Darwin award goes to...

The whole anthropogenic global warming debate is nothing more than a very smart way of making the people of the world pay government cronies for the right to breathe. Several doomsday scenarios were predicted to have struck midnight by the year 2016, and none of them have come to pass. Natural climate change is much, much more powerful than 0.01% changes in CO² atmospheric composition that burning fossil fuels has contributed; Bitcoin mining compares to the previous 2 factors as an infinitesimally small blip. OP is FUD.

[FloridaBear]

OP is FUD.

FTFY. That's the only (3 word) sentence that is plausible from that post.

[tobacco123]

Ireland energy consumption in 2013 was 10,825 ktoe = 4.33 x 10¹⁷J
China energy consumption increase between 2009 and 2010 was (2173.5-2068.5)mtce = 105mtce = 3.15 x 10¹⁸J

The energy consumption by bitcoin is really huge and wasteful, but comparing to the "world's factory", it is just about 1/10th of the annual increase in consumption in China.


* toe = tonne of oil equivalent
* tce = tonne of coal equivalent

[philipma1957]

Ireland energy consumption in 2013 was 10,825 ktoe = 4.33 x 10¹⁷J
China energy consumption increase between 2009 and 2010 was (2173.5-2068.5)mtce = 105mtce = 3.15 x 10¹⁸J

The energy consumption by bitcoin is really huge and wasteful, but comparing to the "world's factory", it is just about 1/10th of the annual increase in consumption in China.


* toe = tonne of oil equivalent
* tce = tonne of coal equivalent

thank you for what I was about to type.

Here is another set of facts of btc mining.

     1.300th at .5 watts a gh is 650 watts.  the network is mostly s-7's so we are less then .5 watts  a gh
   13.000th "   "   "      "   "   "  6500 watts
 130.000th "   "   "      "   "   "  65000 watts
 1.30000ph "  "   "      "   "    "  650000  watts
13____________________     6500000 watts or 6.5mega watts
130___________________     65000000 watts or 65 mega watts
1300ph________________     650000000 watts or 650 mega watts  24/7/365

Niagara Falls


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Power_Plant


does 2,525 MW    so about 4x the worlds btc power use.


another fun fact  a typical football stadium with older lighting need 350 kwatts to lit the field.  So  3 or four hours is 1.4megawatts.

So if all sports were done in the daylight worldwide  power savings would be huge far more then BTC burns.

[shinratensei_]

I think that we already have so much extra energy that people don't use, it is better to use it for something good like mining Bitcoin. Banks probably use the same amount of energy as a Bitcoin farm. And there are far less Bitcoin farms compared to banks.

So much extra energy?What do you mean? Average people using non-renewable energy because they rely on their country and if the country using a non-renewable energy. it's will waste the energy.

[afriezalie]

Yeah bitcoin is taking the world energy and make the environment worse because of mass electricity are used for bitcoin transaction and mining. But all the banks also use more electricity to be able to do all the transactions. And then money paper needs many papers and they're from our forest . I think everything in this world needs energy, but we can find a way to reduce the energy consumption with solar power plant that the others said about.