Bitcoin doesnt only consume too much electricity, it destroys the environment

[pinkflower]

The old hardware used and thrown will also be another envronmental problem because the metals and plastics are made of precious and limited resources from the Earth.

All developers should do their due diligence on the energy and hardware efficiency of Proof of Capacity and help to make it more secure from grinding attacks and time memory trade off attacks. Doing nothing and killing the Earth is the alternative lol.

Bitcoin is consuming more energy than Denmark, study

• Mining virtual currencies with a real-world value, in other words, carries a hidden environmental cost that is rarely measured or taken into account.
  
  
• "We now have an entirely new industry that is consuming more energy per year than many countries," said Max Krause, a researcher at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and lead author of a study in the journal Nature Sustainability.
  
  "In 2018, bitcoin is on track to consume more energy than Denmark," he told AFP.
  Denmark consumed 31.4 billion kilowatt hours in electricity in 2015. As of July 1 of this year, Bitcoin mining used up approximately 30.1 billion kilowatt hours, according to the study.
  
  
• For the study, Krause and Thabet Tolaymat, an environmental engineer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, calculated the average energy consumed to create one US dollar's worth of four top virtual currencies -- bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and monero -- over the 30-month period up to June 2018.
  
  That amount was 17, 7, 7 and 14 million joules, or megajoules (MJ), respectively.
  A joule is a unit of energy equivalent to the work required to produce one watt of power for one second.
  
  That is up to three times the energy needed to excavate gold, platinum or copper, they found. Of the metals examined, only aluminum -- at 122 MJ per dollar's worth -- was more energy intensive.
  
  
• A complete calculation of the environmental cost of virtual currencies would take into account the banks of computers used to mine them.
  
  "The computers are made with gold and other precious metals," said Krause.
  "They are run aggressively, which means the hardware is destroyed much quicker than you or I would expect for regular use -- maybe a year instead of five or ten."

[NeuroticFish]

Humans waste an awfully lot of energy, and unlike Bitcoin, most of that energy comes from coal.

So energy is just one more of the "goods" we "produce" and waste. The bigger the need, more the pressure to harness more energy from regenerable sources, more efficient and also store it and transport it better.

[reverseflash]

Once again, there was an opponent of technology development. I wonder why all these environmentalists think only about banning, but no one thinks how to improve? Because it is harder to create than to destroy. And to attract attention to such topics is easier, people like such news more.

[Gloverwrt]

I don't see the relationship between consuming more energy and actually destroying the environment.
Bitcoins energy requirement is not taking out of any one's home ratio or a companies mega watt, so no one can say they are depleted thanks to bitcoin mining.
The energy comes from reserves and excess energy.

[giantrobot]

The old hardware used and thrown will also be another envronmental problem because the metals and plastics are made of precious and limited resources from the Earth.

All developers should do their due diligence on the energy and hardware efficiency of Proof of Capacity and help to make it more secure from grinding attacks and time memory trade off attacks. Doing nothing and killing the Earth is the alternative lol.

Bitcoin is consuming more energy than Denmark, study

• Mining virtual currencies with a real-world value, in other words, carries a hidden environmental cost that is rarely measured or taken into account.
  
  
• "We now have an entirely new industry that is consuming more energy per year than many countries," said Max Krause, a researcher at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and lead author of a study in the journal Nature Sustainability.
  
  "In 2018, bitcoin is on track to consume more energy than Denmark," he told AFP.
  Denmark consumed 31.4 billion kilowatt hours in electricity in 2015. As of July 1 of this year, Bitcoin mining used up approximately 30.1 billion kilowatt hours, according to the study.
  
  
• For the study, Krause and Thabet Tolaymat, an environmental engineer based in Cincinnati, Ohio, calculated the average energy consumed to create one US dollar's worth of four top virtual currencies -- bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and monero -- over the 30-month period up to June 2018.
  
  That amount was 17, 7, 7 and 14 million joules, or megajoules (MJ), respectively.
  A joule is a unit of energy equivalent to the work required to produce one watt of power for one second.
  
  That is up to three times the energy needed to excavate gold, platinum or copper, they found. Of the metals examined, only aluminum -- at 122 MJ per dollar's worth -- was more energy intensive.
  
  
• A complete calculation of the environmental cost of virtual currencies would take into account the banks of computers used to mine them.
  
  "The computers are made with gold and other precious metals," said Krause.
  "They are run aggressively, which means the hardware is destroyed much quicker than you or I would expect for regular use -- maybe a year instead of five or ten."

This is one of the serious problems of Bitcoin. The miners exploited too massively and greedy. I've seen a miner's Bitcoin machine. This system can earn its owner a lot of money every month, but the electricity consumption is really terrible, about 30 times the normal people.
This is one of the negative aspects of Bitcoin. I think there should be control over the exploitation of Bitcoin.

[snipie]

This system can earn its owner a lot of money every month, but the electricity consumption is really terrible, about 30 times the normal people.
This is one of the negative aspects of Bitcoin. I think there should be control over the exploitation of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is one of the rare technologies turning green. Many new businesses are installing solar panels essentially to generate electricity which is way more safe for the planet than other industries 

[davis196]

The old hardware used and thrown will also be another envronmental problem because the metals and plastics are made of precious and limited resources from the Earth.

The old hardware can be recycled,instead of "thrown".
Metals and plactics can be recycled as well,the arguement that they are "rare" just doesn't work.It looks like this article is written by a jerk,who doesn't know that the recycling industry already exists and just wants to talk trash about bitcoin.

[franky1]

much easier method of calculation bitcoin
average hashrate is 50exahash always running
thats 50,000,000terahash
thats ~3571429 asics (14thash each)
thats ~4642857kw/h (each asic uses 1.3kw/h)
thats ~4642857143w/h
thats ~16714152mj  the actual mining power of bitcoin mining in total per hour
thats ~2785692mj per block (/6)
thats ~222855mj per btc  (/12.5)
thats ~34mj per $1 (/6400)

the important part
thats ~4642857kw/h (each asic uses 1.3kw/h)

~4,642,857kw/h
=111,428,571kwh a day
=40,671,428,571kwh a year
=40.67twh a year
real funny thing.
international currency(BTC) using ONLY the electric of a small country...

however
a national currency like USD uses EVEN MORE electric than international currency(BTC)
meaning USD wastes even more than denmark

(v   note sarcasm attitute, but factual data  v)
must kill USD as its only national not international but wastes more electric
(^  note sarcasm attitute, but factual data  ^)

come on.. wheres the racist folks about "china"
oh wait. china does 6000TWH per year.. so that doesnt suite the narrative that "50% of mining is china" (20thw a year)
..as thats only 0.33% of china's production

[dothebeats]

We've been doing this for decades now, and most of the world's waste end up on the great Pacific garbage patch or somewhere else. Oddly enough, it's always bitcoin that receives the backlash whenever the talks about energy and conservation of environment is brought about, while there are more violators out there doing their thing freely without garnering any negative attention from these "environmentalists" (lol). Instead of going after industries that rely on the products of fossil fuels to generate power, why not go after the power companies that can up their game and resort to cleaner and greener methods of producing energy? Oh right, they won't, since coal is way cheaper and produces more profit compared to nuclear energy.

[AlaEhBTC]

Hoping that maybe someday they can discover new things to gather energy that will not destroy our environment so that bitcoin will have a better image.

[EllieBasti05]

People will find a ways on how to solve the problem. Hopefully they will discover much safer method on how to conserve energy and recycle the discarded hardware and be eco friendly.

It will be a win-win situation for the people and environment if the wastes are properly discarded.

[novokovskitve]

and that how many people consume energy nobody takes into account? practically everything, even in your house consumes energy. unfortunately few people think of how to reduce consumption in everyday life.

[coin8coin8]

Yes, I agree that electricity is also a natural resource. A lot of power consumption will also indirectly damage the environment. Bitcoin mining did not consume electricity like this a few years ago. I think it is because bitcoin is being mined and the fierce competition in the process has caused people to constantly replace higher-energy hardware for mining, thus causing the mining cost to rise.
This is certainly helpful for the price of Bitcoin, but I hope to see a more economical way of mining. After all, electricity is also a very valuable resource in many poor countries.

[BrewMaster]

like always the source is not reliable and bitcoin isn't really consuming that much energy. it is just that these days we are seeing another wave of attacks against bitcoin with the same old topic about bitcoin's energy consumption whereas nothing has changed. and all these sites are only repeating the same thing by adding their own drama on top of it.

[pinkflower]

like always the source is not reliable and bitcoin isn't really consuming that much energy. it is just that these days we are seeing another wave of attacks against bitcoin with the same old topic about bitcoin's energy consumption whereas nothing has changed. and all these sites are only repeating the same thing by adding their own drama on top of it.

Its consuming increasing amount of energy every year. If it doesnt stop where will it be in 10 years? It will be consuming more energy of more nations and will be part of the cause in destroying the environment.

Its the right time to explore other low energy algorithms other than the power hungry PoW to mine coins.

[biskitop]

yes, bitcoin can damage the earth in the coming year. Electricity consumption for bitcoin mining is very large, and if miners increase every year, then electricity consumption will also increase and can damage the earth.

[pinkflower]

It will not stop. Is this a race of who kills our planet first?

Energy cost of mining Bitcoin more than copper or gold

[Herbert2020]

It will not stop. Is this a race of who kills our planet first?

no it is a race about who can make the most outrageous claims about bitcoin's energy usage and the business is good these days. they come up with these exaggerated numbers that they keep feeding people trying to undermine bitcoin. the fact is none of these websites like "theguardian" which you quoted give a shit about planet and environment otherwise they would have spoke more about the real polluting industries that are causing global warming and killing us all not the tiny energy consumption that is the most constructive and clean thing you can find.

[Dexion]

we need other devices that can save electricity. when the block puzzles are more difficult to solve and difficult to mine, then electricity is getting bigger and longer, so electricity costs will be more expensive.

ASIC innovations, hydropower electricity, solar power electricity, steam power electricity, and rubbish power electricity can help to save the country's electricity.

[coinwizard_]

There are so many alternative forms of energy that mining can be done cleanly with the right equipment. Solar energy is becoming popular but hydro and geothermal are perfectly viable options as well