Category: Sustainability
“The total Bitcoin carbon footprint exceeds the total greenhouse gas emission reductions of electric vehicles (51.9 Mt CO2 in 2020) as reported by the International Energy Agency’s EV Outlook 2021.” This was noted in a new article titled “The true costs of digital currencies: Exploring impact beyond energy …
While a lot has been written about the environmental impact that can be associated with the digital currency Bitcoin, finding a solution to the problem is far from easy.
Estimates have long suggested that Bitcoin mining is a dirty business, but it took a blackout in China’s Xinjiang province during the weekend of April 17-18 to confirm the appalling state of Bitcoin’s network.
The record-breaking surge in Bitcoin price at the start of 2021 may result in the network consuming as much energy as all data centers globally, with an associated carbon footprint matching London’s footprint size.
When the Bitcoin network launched back in 2009, it didn’t take long before cryptographer and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney infamously wondered “how to reduce CO2 emissions from a widespread Bitcoin implementation”. By adding a proof-of-work based consensus mechanism, Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto had embedded a requirement for the …
