Ethic & Sustainable Mining

[nur rochid]

I think with the development of more mining, of course there must be regulations so that everything goes according to the existing rules, especially for large miners. so that everything can go well

[figmentofmyass]

Proof of Stake is also "energy wasting" . Where else does money for buying stakes come from if not from energy.  It's a waste of energy if i get 1 million dollar  from coal mining to stake on a PoS coin. Money dont  grow from trees. Energy produces money.

the same thing applies to bitcoin miners spending money on mining facilities and rigs, or bitcoin investors buying BTC. the question here is about the cost to secure the system itself. assuming coins have already been well distributed, staking as a consensus mechanism doesn't expend energy beyond what running network nodes does.

that's actually the fundamental weakness of POS. if coins aren't well distributed enough, the lack of energy expenditure by minters creates a large attack surface. unlike POW, an attacking minter could build on many different attack chains at once without spending anything. that means chain reorg threats for users, so confirmations become less reliable.

[magneto]

Critics overwhelm the Crypto Mining Industry on POW blockchains. Although BTC runs the safest blockchain, it's the most polluting one.
Mining companies can make Thousands if not millions of dollars with almost no employees.
Mining companies can provoke problems in their communities due to the amount of energy usage.

How can we make Mining Operations more sustainable?

Redirecting part of profits towards the problem they cause? Eg: Sustain or fund environmental impact businesses.
Going 100% solar/renewable energy?

How can all the critics be countered? How can we create an ethical mining sector?

I don't think that mining necessarily will create a "problem".

What will create a problem is if the energy is not sustainably sourced, and I think that is totally out of the control of bitcoin miners. Furthermore, IIRC a lot of bitcoin mining really just uses up excess electricity that would otherwise have went down the drain anyways. If bitcoin mining uses excess energy, and energy that is sustainably generated, then I really don't see a problem with its high consumption (which isn't really that high if you put it into perspective with other, everyday activities that we accept, like gaming, and traditional banking). Especially when you take into consideration the function that PoW plays in securing the network.

Of course, there will be a lot of instances where eco-friendly electricity isn't available. But I think it's ultimately up to the governments to regulate the source of electricity, not bitcoin miners.

[figmentofmyass]

I don't think that mining necessarily will create a "problem".

What will create a problem is if the energy is not sustainably sourced, and I think that is totally out of the control of bitcoin miners.

i wouldn't say that. this all boils down to profit motive. if the mining profit motive drives unsustainable energy use (like coal fired generation), that is not "out of the control of bitcoin miners". the bitcoin miners don't give a shit about sustainable energy. they only care about profit. that's the fundamental problem that we as society need to fix.

this is why sensible power plant operators (who need to balance their grid loads) and governments who are serious about sustainable energy need to incentivize bitcoin miners to make the right decision. we need to drive bitcoin miners where there is excess electricity supply. hydro power during rainy season that must be consumed and other things like that.

if you just leave bitcoin miners up to their own devices, they will just opt for the cheapest energy. if that's fossil fuel, of course they'll use it.

Furthermore, IIRC a lot of bitcoin mining really just uses up excess electricity that would otherwise have went down the drain anyways.

that's the ideal but i'm really not sure that's what is actually happening. very few policy makers have actually created economic incentives for this activity.

[Renaldi blackspadeteam]

it's hard to explain to be able to mine ethically, and truly renewable energy "solar energy" can be the best choice, and besides that I think crypto mining is very risky, electromagnetic waves generated by electrical energy can attack body health, and according to the news Wi-Fi signal media can cause brain cancer.

so all of these risks must be ready to be accepted to the crypto miners,

[nerlial]

Many projects are switching to POS loot. Like for example ETH. It eats up resources on mining much less.

[Kakmakr]

You are not looking at the bigger picture here. Even though most mining farms only operate with a few individuals, it also creates indirect job opportunities for people in their supply chain. They need specific hardware and resources like, steel racks & air conditioning, electricians and hiring accommodation and plots of land close to their power source.

They also use bandwidth from the local internet provider and they buy food and produce from the local markets and shops. Also, someone must be employed to manufacture the ASIC chips that are used by these mining farms.   

[daarul50]

Do not ignore their criticism because I believe the criticism indicates that they only envy miners who make a lot of money without having to have many employees. Energy problems are just as an excuse to bring you down to stop mining. As long as you are sure that the mining that you do does not damage the environment, then continue the mining process because there are many other ways to be able to get environmentally friendly energy.

[davis196]

Critics overwhelm the Crypto Mining Industry on POW blockchains. Although BTC runs the safest blockchain, it's the most polluting one.
Mining companies can make Thousands if not millions of dollars with almost no employees.
Mining companies can provoke problems in their communities due to the amount of energy usage.

How can we make Mining Operations more sustainable?

Redirecting part of profits towards the problem they cause? Eg: Sustain or fund environmental impact businesses.
Going 100% solar/renewable energy?

How can all the critics be countered? How can we create an ethical mining sector?

Millions of dollars with almost no employess?Really?I don't believe this.The more mining equipment you have the more people your need for maintenance and security.
Going 100% renewable energy is not doable in the next 10 years,green energy is still very expensive.
We have to deal wit hthe fact that mining will become even more centralized and executed by only a handful of major corporations.

[Naida_BR]

Critics overwhelm the Crypto Mining Industry on POW blockchains. Although BTC runs the safest blockchain, it's the most polluting one.
Mining companies can make Thousands if not millions of dollars with almost no employees.
Mining companies can provoke problems in their communities due to the amount of energy usage.

How can we make Mining Operations more sustainable?

Redirecting part of profits towards the problem they cause? Eg: Sustain or fund environmental impact businesses.
Going 100% solar/renewable energy?

How can all the critics be countered? How can we create an ethical mining sector?

It is just a marketing technique to spread FUD in the crypto community.
You know the cryptocurrency industry is not polluting the environment as cars/factories do. There are so many other entities that absorb more power and pollute the environment compared to mining farms.

Don't be naive and adopt the opinion that mining is not environmentally friendly. A mining farm and be supported 100% from solar/renewable energy.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Although BTC runs the safest blockchain, it's the most polluting one.

Wouldn't it be much better if people weren't mining all of these garbage coins that will never get used for anything other than selling to the next sucker?  I think if any coin deserves to get mined, it's bitcoin just based on its utility alone.  And though I haven't read much about the environmental impact of mining it (but it's definitely interesting to me), I can't see how it's the "most polluting one".  Is that simply because it has the most miners?

Wasn't there a bunch of Chinese miners using hydroelectric power for their mining operation?  I think I recall seeing a picture of a huge warehouse-type place near some waterfall a couple of years ago.  That seems like an ideal way to get the electricity needed to mine.  Not sure if other, cleaner power sources can generate enough wattage to power a huge mining farm like the one I think I saw, but I imagine that that's where miners will end up.  It also seems like it would be far more profitable for them to use power generated off-grid.

[el kaka22]

Why would they need to build an ethic and sustainable operation if what they are doing is not illegal in anyway ?
I mean there are so many more business all around the world that causes more damage and yet they are legal so they just pay their taxes.

Look at tobacco companies, they are LITERALLY killing people, I am not even joking, we are talking about a tobacco product that kills more people than guns and yet they are so free you can buy them anywhere you want.

I have no idea how are they even so popular and allowed, weed is literally harmless compared to tobacco but fairly illegal in most of the world. Miners need to do nothing, they continue doing what they are doing and if anyone wants to stop them they should first look at all the other ethical stuff in the world before they go down the list to miners.