Bitcoin and global warming

[filharvey]

Countries which do not find any allegations against bitcoin to ban it may use such complaints as global mining due to bitcoin mining to ban bitcoins.We know very well if we want to avoid global warming,we would have to ban lots of ongoing projects today and it would definitely seem to be illogical to do so.But no one would agree to stop mining reward which is given to miners.

[1714692827]

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[1714692827]

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[BurtW]

...but in an economic perspective this would destroy markets and may cause hyperinflation in some countries.

By definition and design Bitcoin cannot experience hyperinflation.  So, you must be talking about hyperinflation of a country's government or central bank issued fiat currency as people dump that crap for something better.  You cannot blame the hyperinflation of an unstable government run fiat currency on Bitcoin.  The fault would land squarely on the fiat currency or more specifically the government or central bank mismanagement and misuse of said currency.

A long time ago I derived a formula to estimate the amount of energy the miners will attempt to use based on the assumption that, on average, the mining sector will burn as much energy as they can afford to burn:

P = (6(50/2^e) + f)(x)(1 - g)/c [kW]

where:

x = exchange rate [USD/BTC]
e = era [0..32] (we are currently in era 2)
f = average fees per hour [BTC/hour]
c = cost of energy [USD/kWh]
g = average gross profit margin [unitless ratio]

Here is a quick stab at the numbers.  If you think you have more accurate numbers put them in the formula and see what you get.

x = $8,800 per BTC
f = 6 x 1.25 = 7.5 BTC/hour
c = $0.10 per kWh
g = 0.1 miner gross profit margin

P = (6(50/2²) + 7.5)(8800)(1-0.1)/0.1
   = (6(12.5) + 7.5)(8800)(0.9)/0.1
   = (82.5)(8800)(0.9)/0.1
   = 6,534,000 kW
   = 6.534 GW

So at $8,800 per BTC the mining sector will attempt to burn about 6 GW.  They may not get there due to shortages of miners, build out delays, etc. but they will try.

[lenovop-70]

Wow this serious problems i think,
We all need money, but how we get money without destroying our ecosystem.
maybe developer out there should give us more solution about this.
global warming is really serious problem for our planet anyway 

[BelieveInBitcoin]

Wow this serious problems i think,
We all need money, but how we get money without destroying our ecosystem.
maybe developer out there should give us more solution about this.
global warming is really serious problem for our planet anyway  

I run our house from a renewable supply (when I changed tariff it was actually a bit cheaper). When I do mining, therefore, it's all renewable. It's not hard - you just have to choose to change.

[Domenc]

Definitely, the rising demand of Bitcoin miners has lead to increase in the demand of electricity which further creates heat, which impacts upon global warming. Recently, it was discovered that energy used by Bitcoin miner is equivalent to 150 countries usage, such a large extent of consumption of power has surely lead harmful impacts upon environment also. But the positive side is that many people are  shifting to renewable energy and converting heat energy exhausted by machines in valuable resources like warming their houses.

[Malaya]

Well, if we will just discuss about the electricty consumption most especially to bitcoin mining, I think this should not be an issue because there are renewable energies now that can be also used to have electricty in doing so. In fact we all know that it is not just bitcoin that really gets people attention to spend energy resources but sooooo many still out there.

[pacamobradillo]

bitcoin and global warming, global warming is a very hot issue nowadays, it affects a lot of us, our health or our lives every day.
The warming of the world is determined by the people themselves, by our actions and actions when exploiting the resource mines.
Bitcoin is a hot topic nowadays, because the bitcoin price is too high...

[bitfocus]

What would you say about Solar Powered Envion Mobile Mining Units or Hydro Power based mining? If I see your way, your online presence is also causing Global Warming. Not only this, Every tech you use, every processed food you eat, every cloth you wear causing serious damage to the climate. Please try to be a little logical. Maybe you are one of those who just hate Bitcoin, but, please come with something solid.

[Javanewstar]

Don't put all the environmental problems of lai to COINS, over the years I have heard too much, everything related to environmental protection, but dig for almost have no effect on the influence of environmental protection, do not have a one-sided view.

[Naoko]

the lack of bitcoin and mining will not improve the situation...If people really wanted to prevent the destruction of the Earth, we could for a short time go to alternative sources...but it is not profitable for anyone...there is no point in attributing bitcoin here

[Bolt Brownie]

I don't agree with you and you are not seeing the whole point here. I'm not saying that solutions to reduce the electricity cost of mining should not be searched, but saying that the cost of mining is an argument against bitcoin is wrong in my opinion. If you think about it, the fiat system infrastructure consumes way much electricity than bitcoin mining. Are you saying that governments will shut down Banks, ATMs, the Visa and MasterCard network, exchanges, stock markets, etc? They only serve the fiat system purpose, and mining serves the bitcoin purpose. It's not that different. Both are important to society from my perspective, so the cost in mining is just.
Yes, we need to use renewable energy sources, etc, but that apply to everything and not just bitcoin mining.

[Kotone]

I think our main problem is the huge electricity expense induced by mining and its noxious effect on the climate. This is, to my mind, the only serious argument against Bitcoin.
Alleviating the electricity expense should be one of our priorities. If we do not do it for the sake of the Earth (which we really should) we should at least do it selfishly because governments will not tolerate this forever and they will be right. The more the exchange rate increases, the worse it gets, of course.
Some solutions exist though: first there is proof-of-stake, of course. This technology may be too young to be deemed reliable enough but we should at least start considering it.
If we do not like proof-of-stake I think we could drammatically decrease the electricity expense by stopping monetary creation now. Nowdays Bitcoin is famous enough to remain secure even if miners earned transaction fees only. And if as a whole there are 16.5 M coins instead of 21 M, this does not make much of a difference. That is even good for holders. To make miners agree with that solution, they must be compensated for their lost income.  More precisely, active miners must be compensated because they have already bought ASICs. Futures miners do not need to be compensated. Since mining is a competitive industry, future miners will make no profit on average, whatever the reward scheme. To compensate active miners we could decide that the next 2016 blocks yield, say, 100 new coins and then 0 forever. Everybody would win and the Earth above all!
There are probably many other solutions and I wish the community cared a little more about this fundamental issue.

Well yes if you are talking about mining for gold and how it affects the environment then that is true. however if we are integrating the payment for bitcoin it can affect acou try in a bad way especially if those countries are not able to integrate bitcoin correctly

[jcojci]

the problem of mining bitcoin is electricity and as we know, the electricity is the main problem for global warming and it makes us search another energy that could be used for mining bitcoin. but until we can find new energy, we still use the electricity to continue mining. without researching new technology that will cover the electricity, global warming will come fast and if we can use wind, water, or another energy to support the electricity to mining, then it will reduce the global warming.

[Quickfant]

Bitcoin miners for the green party could just run their miners off of solar panels if they have the money to do so. If they have a hydro plant or a wind turbine farm they could also do it that way. Bitcoin mining is just like having a computer at full throttle on for 24/7 and I doubt the majority of people are going to go green to support their farm unless its better for profit in the long term.

[Snub]

amount of electricity that is used for BTC minig is too small to say that it can somehow affect global warming.
But as for me it woould be great if there will be some kind of law that all miners should spend 20% of electricity that they use for mining for cooling the Earth))

[levvv]

You could say it about everything.

Gold mining is causing global warming and is harming environment.
Money printing is causing global warming and is making rain forest to disappear.

...


We would have to go back on the trees.. .

i agree with you, i think the physical money production causing more global warming than virtual money like bitcoin and other crypto currencies.

[shiv06]

Bitcoin and global warning, global warning is a very hot issue nowadays, it affects a lot of us, our health our live every day. Bitcoin is a hot topic nowadays, because the bitcoin price very high.

[BurtW]

...but in an economic perspective this would destroy markets and may cause hyperinflation in some countries.

By definition and design Bitcoin cannot experience hyperinflation.  So, you must be talking about hyperinflation of a country's government or central bank issued fiat currency as people dump that crap for something better.  You cannot blame the hyperinflation of an unstable government run fiat currency on Bitcoin.  The fault would land squarely on the fiat currency or more specifically the government or central bank mismanagement and misuse of said currency.

A long time ago I derived a formula to estimate the amount of energy the miners will attempt to use based on the assumption that, on average, the mining sector will burn as much energy as they can afford to burn:

P = (6(50/2^e) + f)(x)(1 - g)/c [kW]

where:

x = exchange rate [USD/BTC]
e = era [0..32] (we are currently in era 2)
f = average fees per hour [BTC/hour]
c = cost of energy [USD/kWh]
g = average gross profit margin [unitless ratio]

Here is a quick stab at the numbers.  If you think you have more accurate numbers put them in the formula and see what you get.

x = $8,800 per BTC
f = 6 x 1.25 = 7.5 BTC/hour
c = $0.10 per kWh
g = 0.1 miner gross profit margin

P = (6(50/2²) + 7.5)(8800)(1-0.1)/0.1
   = (6(12.5) + 7.5)(8800)(0.9)/0.1
   = (82.5)(8800)(0.9)/0.1
   = 6,534,000 kW
   = 6.534 GW

So at $8,800 per BTC the mining sector will attempt to burn about 6 GW.  They may not get there due to shortages of miners, build out delays, etc. but they will try.

Holy crap this thread is overrun by spam.  I have created a spam free version of this thread for anyone who wishes to discuss this more seriously/mathematically:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2465881.0

[Alamin9884]

I do think this will be addressed in the future. Gold mining is causing global warming and is herming environment.I think or head problem is the huge electricity expens induced by mining and it's noxious effect on the climate.

[Dean_Jue]

Yes, somehow it does.  Actually, as cryptocurrency is all digital and working digitally saves trees from being cut for fiat currencies and documents. 
White papers and online transactions solve these kinds of wastage and can act as a perfect replacement for paper money and documents. I like the idea to trade digitally, it is hassle-free, saves energy and is the most convenient method.