<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the juiciest topics is the energy consumed while mining and running Bitcoin. Some claim that Bitcoin is an energy-guzzling monster. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Figuring out how much energy that Bitcoin consume is difficult. It depends on what you want to look for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let’s break it down with some stats:<\/strong> According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), Bitcoin consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year. It sounds a lot, but that’s only about 0.55% of global electricity production. Studies claim that this is equal to the annual energy usage of Sweden. So Bitcoin has a considerable environmental impact. But, allow me to mention that the tobacco industry consumes more energy than Bitcoin. Hang on, we need to do a relevant comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Bitcoin’s carbon footprint, remains lower than the traditional banking sector. Peer-reviewed research claim that Bitcoin operates with 28 times less energy than the traditional financial system. That\u00b4s right! Far less than our printed paper money. Additionally, Bitcoin is more energy-efficient per transaction than credit transfers via for example credit cards. Furthermore, most of the energy consumption comes from the mining process, not the day-to-day transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The energy mix used for mining Bitcoin varies depending on the location. So, nailing down its carbon footprint is difficult. Unlike other industries, it can be mined from anywhere, turning places with a surplus of renewable energy to their advantage. Miners move where the energy supply is high and miners are taking eco-friendly strides to reduce their carbon footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, is Bitcoin good or bad for the environment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, Bitcoin requires energy to create more Bitcoin. It\u2019s the same for paper money printed by our governments. In the end, the real question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs. We have to drive oil sucking cars even though they are the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions because it takes time to create a eco-friendly car industry. We use air-conditioning to stay cool even though it consumes more energy than Bitcoin. Energy has an important use case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whereas, with sky high inflation, increasing debt it\u2019s clearer than ever that we have a failing fiat system. We need Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a way to store value. It\u2019s digital gold according to many! It\u2019s likely a part of our financial future and therefore has a valuable use case. By the way, why are we not discussing the emission from the tobacco industry which only has harmful use case!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I agree with the CEO of Microstrategy Michael Saylor, who claimed that Bitcoin mining is neither the problem nor the solution to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions. The environmental discussion on Bitcoin needs to mature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The environmental discussion on Bitcoin is a complicated and twisted debate. It\u2019s a swamp of questionable research and biased thinkers. Here\u2019s the gist of the issue. One of the juiciest topics is the energy consumed while mining and running Bitcoin. Some claim that Bitcoin is an energy-guzzling monster. But there’s more to the story than meets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,9,16,4],"class_list":["post-577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-society","tag-blockchain","tag-crypto","tag-cryptobusiness","tag-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=577"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1682,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions\/1682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}