Coinshares research: 74% of Bitcoin mining is powered by renewable energy

[Baofeng]

Anyone seen this report?

https://coinshares.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MiningWhitepaperJun2019FinalForeword.pdf

Finally,   using   a   combination   of   estimates   of global  mining  locations  and  regional  renewables penetrations   we   again   calculate   the   Bitcoin  mining  industry  to  be  heavily  renewables-driven. Our   current   approximate   percentage  of renewable   power   generation   in   the   Bitcoin mining  energy  mix  stands  at  74.1%,  more  than four times the global average.

Do you agree with this report though? I'm not into mining and I don't have any idea what the numbers are. But I'm sure there is a lot of 'experts' in our community here.

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[Lucius]

I read some parts of report, and based on some other research it seems that the figures quite match. With great security we can say that more than 50% energy which is used for bitcoin mining comes from renewable sources, mostly from hydro power. This research gives an estimate that around 60% of all bitcoin mining is in China, and 50% of all China miners are located in province of Sichuan. This province in the rain period has the cheapest energy in the world, which is the reason for such a large concentration of miners in that area.

It is interesting that the remaining 40% of miners are mostly located in USA&Canada, with some small percentage in northern European states ( Iceland, Norway, Sweden). Iran is also mentioned as one country from that 40%, and I have to admit it was a surprise to me.

[Beerwizzard]

I read some parts of report, and based on some other research it seems that the figures quite match. With great security we can say that more than 50% energy which is used for bitcoin mining comes from renewable sources, mostly from hydro power.

And this is not telling us anything good simply because hydro power is not a green energy. It doesn't really matters if you are using renewable energy or not if it is still poisoning this water.
Also, 55% of chinese electricity is coming from coal. So the number of 74% of renewable energy doesn't seems to be realistic. And if author means that this is a renewable energy like wind energy then is  an absolute bullshit.

[1Referee]

No amount of research will be enough to get naysayers to drop their Bitcoin is an environmental disaster narrative. Another thing is that Bitcoin is still a waste of energy to them because it's worthless. It's burning energy for nothing.

Only when these naysayers will be driven into a corner by their government or banks they will start to appreciate the escape that Bitcoin offers. I think it's only a matter of time before this happens, and they will take back all their words. The beauty of Bitcoin is that regardless of how much people disliked it at the very beginning, they are always free to adopt it.

[Lucius]

And this is not telling us anything good simply because hydro power is not a green energy. It doesn't really matters if you are using renewable energy or not if it is still poisoning this water.
Also, 55% of chinese electricity is coming from coal. So the number of 74% of renewable energy doesn't seems to be realistic. And if author means that this is a renewable energy like wind energy then is  an absolute bullshit.

I can agree that hydro-power is not completely green, actually the construction of large dams may have catastrophic consequences on the environment. But from what you conclude that such way of energy producing is poisons the water?

That 74% is just an assumption based on the research, and you should read it before you start make wrong conclusions based probably on title. Miners always seeks the cheapest energy sources because of profit, and hydro-power at this point is not have cheaper alternatives.

I try to find something what will explain you in a simple way what is hydro-power : http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/energy/hydropower.html

[Red-Apple]

i am always skeptical about stats like this but at least this one is the exact opposite of the FUD that we have been hearing for a couple of years now about bitcoin polluting the air and stuff like that.

And this is not telling us anything good simply because hydro power is not a green energy. It doesn't really matters if you are using renewable energy or not if it is still poisoning this water.

maybe some company was idiot enough to poison the water while generating energy from it which you are referring to but you don't do that when you build a dam and use the water to generate electricity! meaning in 99% of cases

Also, 55% of chinese electricity is coming from coal. So the number of 74% of renewable energy doesn't seems to be realistic. And if author means that this is a renewable energy like wind energy then is  an absolute bullshit.

you are saying this because you have fallen for the FUD that China has most of hashrate

[partysaurus]

Anyone seen this report?

https://coinshares.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MiningWhitepaperJun2019FinalForeword.pdf

Finally,   using   a   combination   of   estimates   of global  mining  locations  and  regional  renewables penetrations   we   again   calculate   the   Bitcoin  mining  industry  to  be  heavily  renewables-driven. Our   current   approximate   percentage  of renewable   power   generation   in   the   Bitcoin mining  energy  mix  stands  at  74.1%,  more  than four times the global average.

Do you agree with this report though? I'm not into mining and I don't have any idea what the numbers are. But I'm sure there is a lot of 'experts' in our community here.

if this is correct then its amazing, that has been a big factor for al the btc haters that the energy consumption is destroying the world, but if its green energy thats a big deal.

[timerland]

Do you agree with this report though? I'm not into mining and I don't have any idea what the numbers are. But I'm sure there is a lot of 'experts' in our community here.

It's interesting statistics, but at the end of the day, it's not concrete. You need multiple reliable sources to arrive at an actual conclusion, in my opinion. However, it's not the first time that a report or article has stated that bitcoin mining generally uses up excess energy off the grid, or that it uses mostly renewable energy, so it probably carries at least some truths to it.

The main thing still is to still realize that energy going into bitcoin mining is not wasted - it's used to facilitate the network.

It is really intriguing why a lot of the criticizers of bitcoin mining say that it's wasting energy, yet they have absolutely no problem about banks and other financial institutions that use energy, and probably more natural resources (given the fact that they need physical headquarters and branches as well) to facilitate their operations. Bitcoin is the same. The energy going in is used for securing the network, and confirm transactions, it's not just for nothing.

[roosbit]

So who exactly is telling lies now, sometime back we were told crypto mining is something that wastes a lot of energy and pollutes the environment and today coinshares comes with news of bitcoin mining being powered by renewable energy To what extent is this energy renewable...

And how did the come up with these numbers(74%)...was this data based on a questionnaire, was this an actual check of mining farms or this was confined to some specific area which had renewable energy sources.

[kryptqnick]

Anyone seen this report?

https://coinshares.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MiningWhitepaperJun2019FinalForeword.pdf

Finally,   using   a   combination   of   estimates   of global  mining  locations  and  regional  renewables penetrations   we   again   calculate   the   Bitcoin  mining  industry  to  be  heavily  renewables-driven. Our   current   approximate   percentage  of renewable   power   generation   in   the   Bitcoin mining  energy  mix  stands  at  74.1%,  more  than four times the global average.

Do you agree with this report though? I'm not into mining and I don't have any idea what the numbers are. But I'm sure there is a lot of 'experts' in our community here.

I am not sure that's accurate, but the research looks pretty decent to me, and I hope that the results are correct. This is great news because increasing greenhouse gas emissions is not what our planet needs, so people argue quite often that Bitcoin should turn to PoS or be abandoned, because of the harm it does for ecology. Consuming less energy doesn't seem to be a way to go, since the more energy we operate, the more powerful we are. Making our energy in ways that will not harm our planet - this is a great solution we should adopt ASAP. The same holds of Bitcoin mining.

[funchiestz]

Anyone seen this report?

https://coinshares.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MiningWhitepaperJun2019FinalForeword.pdf

Finally,   using   a   combination   of   estimates   of global  mining  locations  and  regional  renewables penetrations   we   again   calculate   the   Bitcoin  mining  industry  to  be  heavily  renewables-driven. Our   current   approximate   percentage  of renewable   power   generation   in   the   Bitcoin mining  energy  mix  stands  at  74.1%,  more  than four times the global average.

Do you agree with this report though? I'm not into mining and I don't have any idea what the numbers are. But I'm sure there is a lot of 'experts' in our community here.

The energy problem is very important for this market. We need every positive development in this regard. And renewable energy is one of the best solutions for us now. I wish we could do all the mining with renewable energy ...

[Ryan Dugan]

I don't know how accurate that is. I find it difficult to believe. This is a start though and it is good. They have a positive plan and are trying. I think it is important for miners mining to provide their own power so no one can say we taking or using too much energy. There many topics about it here already which shows genuine concern.

And this is not telling us anything good simply because hydro power is not a green energy. It doesn't really matters if you are using renewable energy or not if it is still poisoning this water.
Also, 55% of chinese electricity is coming from coal. So the number of 74% of renewable energy doesn't seems to be realistic. And if author means that this is a renewable energy like wind energy then is  an absolute bullshit.

I can agree that hydro-power is not completely green, actually the construction of large dams may have catastrophic consequences on the environment. But from what you conclude that such way of energy producing is poisons the water?

That 74% is just an assumption based on the research, and you should read it before you start make wrong conclusions based probably on title. Miners always seeks the cheapest energy sources because of profit, and hydro-power at this point is not have cheaper alternatives.

I try to find something what will explain you in a simple way what is hydro-power : http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/energy/hydropower.html

I don't know how a dam can pollute but ok. The best way to produce energy with the least impact is solar it pays for itself within 7-10 years depending on how you construct it and where you live. I am unsure how well it works in more cloudy, darker, rainer countries though.

[BitHodler]

The energy problem is very important for this market. We need every positive development in this regard. And renewable energy is one of the best solutions for us now. I wish we could do all the mining with renewable energy ...

No one cares about Bitcoin's energy consumption. It's just used as an excuse by haters to make it look bad. If it isn't the energy consumption, then it's money laundering and financing of terrorism.

If it isn't any of the above then they will find something else to complain about. The real 'problem' for haters is that Bitcoin exists and continues to grow, which is an indication of an imploding financial system.

As said above, renewable energy doesn't mean that it's green energy. It's just a fancy--buzzword type of energy that is falsely being marketed as green energy so that people feel better and go with their company.

[dothebeats]

And you still see a lot of 'environmentalists' worried about how much energy and carbon footprint bitcoin mining is emitting, and is doing damage to the environment more than any industry in the world. For one, mining operators would surely go the cheaper route, and with renewables they find it more worth their while more than coal and fossil fuels. Anyhow, even with the numbers stacked up and collected here in this report, naysayers and anti-bitcoiners would still find a way to negate this, or at least deny it with the best they can.

So who exactly is telling lies now, sometime back we were told crypto mining is something that wastes a lot of energy and pollutes the environment and today coinshares comes with news of bitcoin mining being powered by renewable energy To what extent is this energy renewable...

The numbers anti-bitcoiners raked up are somewhat doubtful knowing that their scope is somewhat limited only to the Western world and excluding the provinces of China wherein hydropower was the main energy source for bitcoin mining farms. Unless an independent, credible report comes out of the open that checks the actual number does the verification, that is when we'll believe which is which. Until then, these are just biased figures, but I'm inclined to believe with Coinshare knowing that they finally included the operations in the provinces of China.

And how did the come up with these numbers(74%)...was this data based on a questionnaire, was this an actual check of mining farms or this was confined to some specific area which had renewable energy sources.

They thoroughly researched the data they were given and computed a conservative estimate which ended up @ 74%. The number is quite high, but I'm sure it's somewhere near that range.

[Harlot]

Would like to see this go viral until it spreads into the mass media, I doubt that the skeptics who stated that "Crypt mining consumes more energy to work" will dodge a bullet if they have been asked with this fact. The more important thing about this is how accurate the 74% of renewable sources would be, because I cannot really see any kind of report backing it up. The whitepaper itself doesn't show any reference for that number so its hardly believable on my end especially when I'm seeing news about Chinese miners are moving out of their country due to electricity cost.

[Kemarit]

So who exactly is telling lies now, sometime back we were told crypto mining is something that wastes a lot of energy and pollutes the environment and today coinshares comes with news of bitcoin mining being powered by renewable energy To what extent is this energy renewable...

I don't know if you have been here during the peak of 2017, but during that time it was one of their attack points about bitcoin, that mining uses so much power that it takes this xx.xx TWh annually to operate it. Even saying that the annual consumption can even power up small countries, which is absurd. And then they say that Bitcoin mining leaves environmental footprints and that it should switch to 'green' mining.

And how did the come up with these numbers(74%)...was this data based on a questionnaire, was this an actual check of mining farms or this was confined to some specific area which had renewable energy sources.

Looks like they did a lot of investigations, and then cited some sources in the report. And that's how they come up with this numbers.

[Ucy]

Interesting. I wonder how they were able to determine where the the miners location are.
Well it is a bit comforting to know that miners contribution to environmental issues isn't as bad as was previously thought

[stompix]

Even saying that the annual consumption can even power up small countries, which is absurd. And then they say that Bitcoin mining leaves environmental footprints and that it should switch to 'green' mining.

What is so absurd?
It's pure math!

We had 60 exahash and the best miner inefficiency was an upgrade of the s9, which was doing 14.5 th and 1350w.
So we needed at least 4 millions of those.
1350W is 32 kWh a day or 960 Kwh a month or ~ 11.500 kwh a year.
Multiply those by 4 million and you get 46 Thw a year.

That's half of the production of the Three Gorges Dam or as much as Portugal.

No one cares about Bitcoin's energy consumption. It's just used as an excuse by haters to make it look bad.

Oh, I just realized I'm a hater. Well, better than being a heater in this hot weather but still:'(

[Lucius]

The total energy consumption for bitcoin mining is very small, and some 1% of global electricity production which is often mentioned, is something various researchers often referred to as a relevant percentage. People like to manipulate with numbers, but what if it is just 0.2% of global electricity production wasted on bitcoin mining, and some 50% is from renewable energy sources? Bitcoin mining is the smallest problem in global electricity consumption and environmental pollution.

I will just quote very good post from o_e_l_e_o

It's not 1%.

The report (which was released months ago) is available here: https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=8A1CECD1-157C-45D4-A1AB-B894E913737D

Their method for calculating energy consumption was to assume everyone is mining using an Antminer S9, which will use 98 watts per terahash. Current hash rate is 60,000,000 TH/s, meaning a global consumption of 5.88 gigawatts. That converts to 51.5 TWh per year.

According to https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/KeyWorld2017.pdf, global electricity production is 24,255 TWh per year. 51.5 is around 0.2% of 24,255.

This is not even taking in to account that the majority of mining uses renewable energy.

[btcforthewin]

Nice, for the past days i have been reading a lot of threads discussing power demands of BTC with no solid proof. This is next level, some good research. As research states good amount of rigs are in mountain regions, suggesting renewable. But, the question remains how precise this data actually is.