Cryptocurrencies and environmental benefits. How does green mining work?
The exploitation of digital money is often accused of harming nature. However, the situation is currently changing. How a New Kind of Good is Helping Canada Grow Strawberries, and Why Miners' Best Friends Are Wind, Sun, and Water
Mining uses a lot of electricity. The average power consumption of the Bitcoin network can meet the needs of entire countries. Cambridge University says 97 terawatts per year. Kazakhstan or the Netherlands use roughly the same amount of energy each year. For comparison: a year ago the mark was barely over 73 terawatts per year.
Experts are trying hard to accurately estimate Bitcoin's carbon footprint in mining, but they all agree on one thing: cryptocurrency causes serious environmental damage. In China, which accounts for more than half of the entire BTC system, most of the electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. This extraction method is the cheapest in China.
The other side of the coin concerns energy costs. For many miners, mining coins is unprofitable as the cost of electricity exceeds the income from mining. The miners move from China and Germany to Scandinavia, Russia, the USA and Canada. Mining in countries with cold climates can lower the cost of Bitcoin.
Although the reason for migration is often concern for one's own income, all of this has led to the search for alternative solutions to the problems and the emergence of “green” or ecological mining.
Ecomining is characterized by the use of renewable energy sources. These can be hydropower, solar or wind power plants. The crypto community is not forgetting the excessive heat issue. It is inevitable that it will be produced by mining machinery and that it can harm the ecosystem. Scientists fear that mining will raise the Earth's average temperature by 2 degrees Celsius.
Right now, the only way to reduce the environmental damage caused by cryptocurrency mining is to use alternative power:
• wind power (wind turbines);
• geothermal energy;
• solar energy (solar panels);
• Hydropower (hydropower plants).
Whenever possible, miners move to areas where “green” methods of generating electricity are available. These are areas with mighty rivers, enough sun for solar panels and wind power. Mining has become a driving force in the development of hydropower in Sichuan Province, which accounts for around 50% of global bitcoin production. Hydraulic degradation is viewed as a separate method of making parts.
Mining uses a lot of electricity. The average power consumption of the Bitcoin network can meet the needs of entire countries. Cambridge University says 97 terawatts per year. Kazakhstan or the Netherlands use roughly the same amount of energy each year. For comparison: a year ago the mark was barely over 73 terawatts per year.
Experts are trying hard to accurately estimate Bitcoin's carbon footprint in mining, but they all agree on one thing: cryptocurrency causes serious environmental damage. In China, which accounts for more than half of the entire BTC system, most of the electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. This extraction method is the cheapest in China.
The other side of the coin concerns energy costs. For many miners, mining coins is unprofitable as the cost of electricity exceeds the income from mining. The miners move from China and Germany to Scandinavia, Russia, the USA and Canada. Mining in countries with cold climates can lower the cost of Bitcoin.
Although the reason for migration is often concern for one's own income, all of this has led to the search for alternative solutions to the problems and the emergence of “green” or ecological mining.
Ecomining is characterized by the use of renewable energy sources. These can be hydropower, solar or wind power plants. The crypto community is not forgetting the excessive heat issue. It is inevitable that it will be produced by mining machinery and that it can harm the ecosystem. Scientists fear that mining will raise the Earth's average temperature by 2 degrees Celsius.
Right now, the only way to reduce the environmental damage caused by cryptocurrency mining is to use alternative power:
• wind power (wind turbines);
• geothermal energy;
• solar energy (solar panels);
• Hydropower (hydropower plants).
Whenever possible, miners move to areas where “green” methods of generating electricity are available. These are areas with mighty rivers, enough sun for solar panels and wind power. Mining has become a driving force in the development of hydropower in Sichuan Province, which accounts for around 50% of global bitcoin production. Hydraulic degradation is viewed as a separate method of making parts.