Did anyone think about environmental issues of bitcoin?

[finorthsss]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

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[HabBear]

This "it hurts the environment argument" is as flawed as suggesting no one fly on planes because terrorists have used planes to commit terrorism!

Each person on this planet has a duty to use our resources respectfully, efficiently.

Bitcoin miners could use hydroelectric, solar, wind, or some other renewable energy. They could also use some of their mining awards to buy energy credits to offset their impact.

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

I don't think so. Governments don't really care about the environment currently, why would they care more about because of cryptocurrency mining?

[audaciousbeing]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

There is nothing that does not have environmental impact at all. Today we talk about electric vehicles as against diesel and petrol powered vehicles because of the effect they have on the environment but little did we know that more power plants will need to be built with that also affecting the environment all we just adopted is a lesser way to affect the environment.

On the issue of mining affecting the environment, I don't see that happening because if it had been, they would have added it to the list of reasons why bitcoin is the worst thing that happen to the society. It uses electricity and electricity is key to the human existence what I see government going is people charging more on electricity and with the continued technological advancement in sourcing energy, we are good.

[Scorpion]

I can see where you're coming from but Bitcoin mining is not a big influence on energy consumption, there are much bigger fish to fry in terms of huge green house gas contributors in the world. We need to address our energy and where it's coming from before we tackle little stuff like this.

[SlaS]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

What do you think all the banks, printing money, shipping money around cost the society environmental vise ?

Mining bitcoin is the last thing you should worry about.

[finorthsss]

This "it hurts the environment argument" is as flawed as suggesting no one fly on planes because terrorists have used planes to commit terrorism!

Each person on this planet has a duty to use our resources respectfully, efficiently.

Bitcoin miners could use hydroelectric, solar, wind, or some other renewable energy. They could also use some of their mining awards to buy energy credits to offset their impact.

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

I don't think so. Governments don't really care about the environment currently, why would they care more about because of cryptocurrency mining?

First there exist electricity shortage issues in some countries, Meantime cryptocurrency trading don't pay any tax to local government, should this be a concern?

[jtipt]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

Actually using electricity exactly doesn't hurt environment. The method how that electricity was produced is what hurts the environment, and that too most of ways are natural friendly, with the exception of only nuclear source. So technically bitcoin mining doesn't really cause any environmental problems, it's just another way for people to bash on bitcoin.

[bbqnub1]

What is the energy cost of running and operating billion dollar banks?? I think that could be a fair comparison ultimately

[finorthsss]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

Actually using electricity exactly doesn't hurt environment. The method how that electricity was produced is what hurts the environment, and that too most of ways are natural friendly, with the exception of only nuclear source. So technically bitcoin mining doesn't really cause any environmental problems, it's just another way for people to bash on bitcoin.

you are right that "the method how that electricity was produced is what hurts the environment". However, large mining is always chosen to be located at the area of low electricity price, where usually burning cheap coal and has no matter with renewable energies at all.

[squatter]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Let's keep this in perspective. Americans use more electricity to power their Christmas lights during the holiday season than the Bitcoin mining ecosystem consumes in a year. This will increase with time, but some of the environmental naysaying I've seen doesn't seem to account for scale.

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities?  

It'll certainly attract the ire of environmental organizations. But again, it should be a matter of perspective. If Bitcoin is to complement (or potentially replace) physical gold and paper money, we should be considering the energy consumption of those industries. It's nothing to sneeze at.

As for government, I think the use of subsidized energy for mining will become a bigger issue. Other than that, it really depends on the economic effects. Bitcoin is apparently a boon for the Japanese economy, so I don't see them discouraging mining.

[finorthsss]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Let's keep this in perspective. Americans use more electricity to power their Christmas lights during the holiday season than the Bitcoin mining ecosystem consumes in a year. This will increase with time, but some of the environmental naysaying I've seen doesn't seem to account for scale.

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities?  

It'll certainly attract the ire of environmental organizations. But again, it should be a matter of perspective. If Bitcoin is to complement (or potentially replace) physical gold and paper money, we should be considering the energy consumption of those industries. It's nothing to sneeze at.

As for government, I think the use of subsidized energy for mining will become a bigger issue. Other than that, it really depends on the economic effects. Bitcoin is apparently a boon for the Japanese economy, so I don't see them discouraging mining.

Yes, I agreed it really depends on the economic effects. What I am concerning about is that, large mining is always chosen to be located at the area of low electricity price where usually burning cheap coal. Also bitcoin does not contributes any tax to the government, is bitcoin really a boon for Japanese economy? or make the Japanese economy at a high risk which depends a lot on the bitcoin value?

[ImHash]

What environmental issues? There are more than 5 billions of cars running on fuel and generating carbon dioxide polluting our cities and no one is doing anything about it, You are worried about electricity used by bitcoin network? Anyone mining bitcoin is paying for the electricity they are using and if mining wasn't expensive we could never see a price above $1000

[Lingqingyi]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

In fact, the amount of resources that bitcoin consumes is very small. The problem is that there is no need to worry about it, and there will be more energy saving methods in the future.

[jseverson]

It's starting to turn some heads, but there's not enough discussion about it for people to actually start looking for solutions. It's a problem for sure, but it's still pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things. The only thing alarming about it is that it's growing. It may be better to address the issue before it starts causing headaches. How many years that would take though, I have no clue.

I see not many people are concerned, because again, it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. I personally am concerned though. All the regulatory eyes are on Bitcoin right now, and the energy consumption may just net us even more unnecessary regulations. I'm just saying that it is a problem, no matter how small at the moment, and that if there are prospective solutions, then we should explore them.

[bitfools]

What environmental issues? There are more than 5 billions of cars running on fuel and generating carbon dioxide polluting our cities and no one is doing anything about it, You are worried about electricity used by bitcoin network? Anyone mining bitcoin is paying for the electricity they are using and if mining wasn't expensive we could never see a price above $1000

Exactly anybody who talks this shit, just ask if he has a car,

+90% of all btc is mined in china, with free hydro,

fools driving their cars like hamsters in a cage are the cause of most pollution in the western world, already in china, most citys have banned gas motorcycles, and everything is now electric, Kunming for instance, its all silent now, ... very dangerous as a pedestrian as you can't hear them coming

I heard current price for mining electricity one btc in western world is $2500 USD, but 1 btc is worth 50 barrels of oil, and it take 20 in energy to get that one btc, ... thus btc is one of the most energy efficients means of making profit in the western capitalistic world

Most large scale mining operations are near hydro, or thermal,

Most industry generates far more waste in search of profits far less than are found in BTC,

Just  think of cost doubling your money in any other industry?? It makes bitcoin look like super environmental friendly, even auto industry is barely 10% ROI, if fact without selling credit-cards, GM would be negative ROI

[BrewMaster]

there have been lots of arguments about bitcoin and pollution/environment/power-consumption/.... and lots more. you can find them with a quick research on the internet.
but most of the times, you can see many articles that ignore the fact that bitcoin is providing us a unique payment system which adds a value to the world. it is not something useless wasting energy.
and this is while there are lots of wasteful industries in the world without any value.

[Dod Ong]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

Actually using electricity exactly doesn't hurt environment. The method how that electricity was produced is what hurts the environment, and that too most of ways are natural friendly, with the exception of only nuclear source. It's starting to turn some heads, but there's not enough discussion about it for people to actually start looking for solutions.

[sirkings0003]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

I don't think there will be any environmental regulations against any cryptocurrency mining. This is because it has been proven that more environmental hazards are experienced during crude oil explorations and petroleum refining processes than in bitcoin mining. You will now ask why have those activities not yet stopped.

[Tambu]

As now, the prevalence of  cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of energy, have anyone considered resource wastage and environmental pollution issue?

Will the environmental issues attract the attention from government or environmental organizations, thereby limiting the mining activities? 

Rig can be only a have an environmental issue if it is farm but as long you are compliance to the environment requirements then you farm is good to go.

[samistry]

I dont think it has debilitating impact on the environment as opposed to fuel emissions or oil exploration. Yes, bitcoin mining requires an expense amount of electricity but that is more preferrably considered when compared to the amount of raw materials needed to create conventional money such as bank bills or plastic credit cards.