Environmental effects of bitcoin

Last updated

Bitcoin mining facility in Quebec, Canada Argo Blockchain Mirabel Facility.jpg
Bitcoin mining facility in Quebec, Canada

The environmental effects of bitcoin are significant. Bitcoin mining, the process by which bitcoins are created and transactions are finalized, is energy-consuming and results in carbon emissions as about half of the electricity used is generated through fossil fuels. [1] Moreover, bitcoins are mined on specialized computer hardware with a short lifespan, resulting in electronic waste. [2] The amount of e-waste generated by bitcoin mining is comparable to the one of the Netherlands. [2] Scholars argue that Bitcoin mining could support renewable energy development by utilizing surplus electricity from wind and solar. [3] Bitcoin's environmental impact has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to incentives or restrictions in various jurisdictions. [4]

Contents

Greenhouse gas emissions

Mining as an electricity-intensive process

Electricity consumption of the bitcoin network since 2016 (annualized). The upper and lower bounds are based on worst-case and best-case scenario assumptions, respectively. The red trace indicates an intermediate best-guess estimate. Bitcoin electricity consumption.svg
Electricity consumption of the bitcoin network since 2016 (annualized). The upper and lower bounds are based on worst-case and best-case scenario assumptions, respectively. The red trace indicates an intermediate best-guess estimate.

Bitcoin mining is a highly electricity-intensive proof-of-work process. [1] [5] Miners run dedicated software to compete against each other and be the first to solve the current 10 minute block, yielding them a reward in bitcoins. [6] A transition to the proof-of-stake protocol, which has better energy efficiency, has been described as a sustainable alternative to bitcoin's scheme and as a potential solution to its environmental issues. [5] Bitcoin advocates oppose such a change, arguing that proof of work is needed to secure the network. [7]

Bitcoin mining's distribution makes it difficult for researchers to identify the location of miners and electricity use. It is therefore difficult to translate energy consumption into carbon emissions. [8] As of 2022, a non-peer-reviewed study by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) estimated that bitcoin consumed 95.5  TWh (344  PJ ) annually, representing 0.4% of the world's electricity consumption, ranking bitcoin mining between Belgium and the Netherlands in terms of electricity consumption. [8] A 2022 non-peer-reviewed commentary published in Joule estimated that bitcoin mining resulted in annual carbon emission of 65 Mt CO2, representing 0.2% of global emissions, which is comparable to the level of emissions of Greece. [9] A 2024 systematic review criticized the underlying assumptions of these estimates, arguing that the authors relied on old and partial data. [10]

Bitcoin mining energy mix

Until 2021, most bitcoin mining was done in China. [6] Chinese miners relied on cheap coal power in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia during late autumn, winter and spring, migrating to regions with overcapacities in low-cost hydropower (like Sichuan and Yunnan) between May and October. [9] After China banned bitcoin mining in June 2021, its mining operations moved to other countries. [6] By August 2021, mining was concentrated in the U.S. (35%), Kazakhstan (18%), and Russia (11%) instead. [11] A study in Scientific Reports found that from 2016 to 2021, each US dollar worth of mined bitcoin caused 35 cents worth of climate damage, compared to 95 for coal, 41 for gasoline, 33 for beef, and 4 for gold mining. [12] The shift from coal resources in China to coal resources in Kazakhstan increased bitcoin's carbon footprint, as Kazakhstani coal plants use hard coal, which has the highest carbon content of all coal types. [9] Despite the ban, covert mining operations gradually came back to China, reaching 21% of global hashrate as of 2022. [13]

Reducing the environmental impact of bitcoin is possible by mining only using clean electricity sources. [14] As of 2023, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, renewables represent about half of global bitcoin mining sources, [15] while research by the nonprofit tech company WattTime estimated that US miners consumed 54% fossil fuel-generated power. [7] Still, experts and government authorities, such as the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Central Bank, have suggested that using renewable energy for mining may limit the availability of clean energy for the general population. [1] [16] [17] In addition, reported usage of renewable energy is not often supported by environmental attribute certificates, which may lead to double-counting of renewable energy source usage and thus an overestimation of the usage of clean electricity. [18]

Bitcoin mining representatives argue that their industry creates opportunities for wind and solar companies, [19] leading to a debate on whether bitcoin could be an ESG investment. [20] According to a 2023 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering paper, directing the surplus electricity from intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, to bitcoin mining could reduce electricity curtailment, balance the electrical grid, and increase the profitability of renewable energy plants—therefore accelerating the transition to sustainable energy and decreasing bitcoin's carbon footprint. [21] A 2023 review published in Resource and Energy Economics also concluded that bitcoin mining could increase renewable capacity but that it might increase carbon emissions and that mining bitcoin to provide demand response largely mitigated its environmental impact. [22] Two studies from 2023 and 2024 led by Fengqi You concluded that mining bitcoin off-grid during the precommercial phase (when a wind or solar farm is generating electricity but not yet integrated into the grid) could bring additional profits and therefore support renewable energy development and mitigate climate change. [3] [23] Bitcoin mining may also incentivize the recommissioning of fossil fuel plants. [24] For instance, Greenidge Generation, a closed coal-fired power plant in New York State, was converted into natural gas in 2017 and started mining bitcoin in 2020 to monetize off-peak periods. [21] Such impact is difficult to quantify directly. [24]

Methane emissions

Bitcoin has been mined via electricity generated through the combustion of associated petroleum gas (APG), which is a methane-rich byproduct of crude oil drilling that is sometimes flared or released into the atmosphere. [25] Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28 to 36 times greater than CO2. [4] By converting more of the methane to CO2 than flaring alone would, using APG generators reduces the APG's contribution to the greenhouse effect, but this practice still harms the environment. [4] In places where flaring is prohibited this practice has allowed more oil drills to operate by offsetting costs, delaying fossil fuel phase-out. [4] Commenting on one pilot project with ExxonMobil, political scientist Paasha Mahdavi noted in 2022 that this process could potentially allow oil companies to report lower emissions by selling gas leaks, shifting responsibility to buyers and avoiding a real reduction commitment. [26]

Comparison to other payment systems

In a 2023 study published in Ecological Economics , researchers from the International Monetary Fund estimated that the global payment system represented about 0.2% of global electricity consumption, comparable to the consumption of Portugal or Bangladesh. [27] For bitcoin, energy used is estimated around 500 kilowatt-hours per transaction, compared to 0.001 kWh for credit cards (not including consumption from the merchant's bank, which receives the payment). [27] However, bitcoin's energy expenditure is not directly linked to the number of transactions. Layer 2 solutions, like the Lightning Network, and batching, allow bitcoin to process more payments than the number of on-chain transactions suggests. [27] [28] For instance, in 2022, bitcoin processed 100 million transactions per year, representing 250 million payments. [27]

Electronic waste

The total active mining equipment in the bitcoin network and the related electronic waste generation, from July 2014 to July 2021. Total active mining equipment and electronic waste generation in the Bitcoin network over time.jpg
The total active mining equipment in the bitcoin network and the related electronic waste generation, from July 2014 to July 2021.

Bitcoins are usually mined on specialized computing hardware, called application-specific integrated circuits, with no alternative use beyond bitcoin mining. [2] Due to the consistent increase of the bitcoin network's hashrate, one 2021 study estimated that mining devices had an average lifespan of 1.3 years until they became unprofitable and had to be replaced, resulting in significant electronic waste. [2] This study estimated bitcoin's annual e-waste to be over 30,000 tonnes (comparable to the small IT equipment waste produced by the Netherlands) and each transaction to result in 272 g (9.6 oz) of e-waste. [2] A 2024 systematic review criticized this estimate and argued, based on market sales and IPO data, that bitcoin mining hardware lifespan was closer to 4–5 years. [29]

Water footprint

According to a 2023 non-peer-reviewed commentary, bitcoin's water footprint reached 1,600 gigalitres (5.7×1010 cu ft) in 2021, due to direct water consumption on site and indirect consumption from electricity generation. [30] The author notes that this water footprint could be mitigated by using immersion cooling and power sources that do not require freshwater such as wind, solar, and thermoelectric power generation with dry cooling. [30]

Regulatory responses

China's 2021 bitcoin mining ban was partly motivated by its role in illegal coal mining and environmental concerns. [31] [32]

In September 2022, the US Office of Science and Technology Policy highlighted the need for increased transparency about electricity usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and e-waste. [33] In November 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency confirmed working on the climate impacts of cryptocurrency mining. [34] In the US, New York State banned new fossil fuel mining plants with a two-year moratorium, citing environmental concerns, [4] while Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wyoming encourage bitcoin mining with tax breaks. [4] [35] Texas incentives aim to cut methane emissions from flared gas using bitcoin mining. [35]

In Canada, due to high demand from the industry and concerned that their renewable electricity could be better used, the provinces Manitoba and British Columbia paused new connections of bitcoin mining facilities to the hydroelectric grid in late 2022 for 18 months while Hydro-Québec increased prices and capped usage for bitcoin miners. [36]

In October 2022, due to the global energy crisis, the European Commission invited member states to lower the electricity consumption of crypto-asset miners and end tax breaks and other incentives benefiting them. [37]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal</span> Combustible sedimentary rock composed primarily of carbon

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is a type of fossil fuel, formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of electricity generation</span>

Electric power systems consist of generation plants of different energy sources, transmission networks, and distribution lines. Each of these components can have environmental impacts at multiple stages of their development and use including in their construction, during the generation of electricity, and in their decommissioning and disposal. These impacts can be split into operational impacts and construction impacts. All forms of electricity generation have some form of environmental impact, but coal-fired power is the dirtiest. This page is organized by energy source and includes impacts such as water usage, emissions, local pollution, and wildlife displacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable energy</span> Energy that responsibly meets social, economic, and environmental needs

Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and society. These impacts range from greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution to energy poverty and toxic waste. Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal energy can cause environmental damage, but are generally far more sustainable than fossil fuel sources.

Proof of work (PoW) is a form of cryptographic proof in which one party proves to others that a certain amount of a specific computational effort has been expended. Verifiers can subsequently confirm this expenditure with minimal effort on their part. The concept was invented by Moni Naor and Cynthia Dwork in 1993 as a way to deter denial-of-service attacks and other service abuses such as spam on a network by requiring some work from a service requester, usually meaning processing time by a computer. The term "proof of work" was first coined and formalized in a 1999 paper by Markus Jakobsson and Ari Juels. The concept was adapted to digital tokens by Hal Finney in 2004 through the idea of "reusable proof of work" using the 160-bit secure hash algorithm 1 (SHA-1).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change mitigation</span> Actions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate change

Climate change mitigation is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are primarily caused by people burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Phasing out fossil fuel use can happen by conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar, and nuclear power. Secondary mitigation strategies include changes to land use and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Governments have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but actions to date are insufficient to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon footprint</span> Concept to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from activities or products

A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. Carbon footprints are usually reported in tonnes of emissions (CO2-equivalent) per unit of comparison. Such units can be for example tonnes CO2-eq per year, per kilogram of protein for consumption, per kilometer travelled, per piece of clothing and so forth. A product's carbon footprint includes the emissions for the entire life cycle. These run from the production along the supply chain to its final consumption and disposal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenhouse gas emissions</span> Sources and amounts of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere from human activities

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is one of the most important factors in causing climate change. The largest emitters are China followed by the United States. The United States has higher emissions per capita. The main producers fueling the emissions globally are large oil and gas companies. Emissions from human activities have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. The growing levels of emissions have varied, but have been consistent among all greenhouse gases. Emissions in the 2010s averaged 56 billion tons a year, higher than any decade before. Total cumulative emissions from 1870 to 2017 were 425±20 GtC from fossil fuels and industry, and 180±60 GtC from land use change. Land-use change, such as deforestation, caused about 31% of cumulative emissions over 1870–2017, coal 32%, oil 25%, and gas 10%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal-fired power station</span> Type of thermal power station

A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are over 2,400 coal-fired power stations, totaling over 2,130 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a third of the world's electricity, but cause many illnesses and the most early deaths, mainly from air pollution. World installed capacity doubled from 2000 to 2023 and increased 2% in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coal in China</span>

China is the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal power in the world. The share of coal in the Chinese energy mix declined to 55% in 2021 according to the US Energy Information Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero-carbon city</span> City that has no carbon footprint

A zero-carbon city is a goal of city planners that can be variously defined. In a narrower sense of energy production and use, a zero-carbon city is one that generates as much or more carbon-free sustainable energy as it uses. In a broader sense of managing greenhouse gas emissions, a zero-carbon city is one that reduces its carbon footprint to a minimum by using renewable energy sources; reducing all types of carbon emissions through efficient urban design, technology use and lifestyle changes; and balancing any remaining emissions through carbon sequestration. Since the supply chains of a city stretch far beyond its borders, Princeton University's High Meadows Environmental Institute suggests using a transboundary definition of a net-zero carbon city as "one that has net-zero carbon infrastructure and food provisioning systems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of the energy industry</span>

The environmental impact of the energy industry is significant, as energy and natural resource consumption are closely related. Producing, transporting, or consuming energy all have an environmental impact. Energy has been harnessed by human beings for millennia. Initially it was with the use of fire for light, heat, cooking and for safety, and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years. In recent years there has been a trend towards the increased commercialization of various renewable energy sources. Scientific consensus on some of the main human activities that contribute to global warming are considered to be increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, causing a warming effect, global changes to land surface, such as deforestation, for a warming effect, increasing concentrations of aerosols, mainly for a cooling effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin</span> Decentralized digital currency

Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Nodes in the peer-to-peer bitcoin network verify transactions through cryptography and record them in a public distributed ledger, called a blockchain, without central oversight. Consensus between nodes is achieved using a computationally intensive process based on proof of work, called mining, that requires increasing quantities of electricity and guarantees the security of the bitcoin blockchain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Individual action on climate change</span> What people can do individually to stop global warming

Individual action on climate change can include personal choices in many areas, such as diet, travel, household energy use, consumption of goods and services, and family size. Individuals can also engage in local and political advocacy around issues of climate change. People who wish to reduce their carbon footprint, can take "high-impact" actions, such as avoiding frequent flying and petrol fuelled cars, eating mainly a plant-based diet, having fewer children, using clothes and electrical products for longer, and electrifying homes. Avoiding meat and dairy foods has been called "the single biggest way" an individual can reduce their environmental impact. Excessive consumption is more to blame for climate change than population increase. High consumption lifestyles have a greater environmental impact, with the richest 10% of people emitting about half the total lifestyle emissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Variable renewable energy</span> Class of renewable energy sources

Variable renewable energy (VRE) or intermittent renewable energy sources (IRES) are renewable energy sources that are not dispatchable due to their fluctuating nature, such as wind power and solar power, as opposed to controllable renewable energy sources, such as dammed hydroelectricity or biomass, or relatively constant sources, such as geothermal power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocurrency</span> Digital currency not reliant on a central authority

A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy transition</span> Significant structural change in an energy system

An energy transition is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. As much sustainable energy is renewable it is also known as the renewable energy transition. The current transition aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy quickly and sustainably, mostly by phasing-down fossil fuels and changing as many processes as possible to operate on low carbon electricity. A previous energy transition perhaps took place during the Industrial Revolution from 1760 onwards, from wood and other biomass to coal, followed by oil and later natural gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitcoin protocol</span> Rules that govern the functioning of Bitcoin

The Bitcoin protocol is the set of rules that govern the functioning of Bitcoin. Its key components and principles are: a peer-to-peer decentralized network with no central oversight; the blockchain technology, a public ledger that records all Bitcoin transactions; mining and proof of work, the process to create new bitcoins and verify transactions; and cryptographic security.

Proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols are a class of consensus mechanisms for blockchains that work by selecting validators in proportion to their quantity of holdings in the associated cryptocurrency. This is done to avoid the computational cost of proof-of-work (POW) schemes. The first functioning use of PoS for cryptocurrency was Peercoin in 2012, although the scheme, on the surface, still resembled a POW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey</span> Climate-changing gases from Turkey: sources, amounts, and mitigation policies

Coal, cars and lorries vent more than a third of Turkey's six hundred million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions, which are mostly carbon dioxide and part of the cause of climate change in Turkey. The nation's coal-fired power stations emit the most carbon dioxide, and other significant sources are road vehicles running on petrol or diesel. After coal and oil the third most polluting fuel is fossil gas; which is burnt in Turkey's gas-fired power stations, homes and workplaces. Much methane is belched by livestock; cows alone produce half of the greenhouse gas from agriculture in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenhouse gas emissions by China</span> Emissions of gases harmful to the climate from China

China's greenhouse gas emissions are the largest of any country in the world both in production and consumption terms, and stem mainly from coal burning, including coal power, coal mining, and blast furnaces producing iron and steel. When measuring production-based emissions, China emitted over 14 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2eq of greenhouse gases in 2019, 27% of the world total. When measuring in consumption-based terms, which adds emissions associated with imported goods and extracts those associated with exported goods, China accounts for 13 gigatonnes (Gt) or 25% of global emissions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Huang, Jon; O'Neill, Claire; Tabuchi, Hiroko (3 September 2021). "Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Than Many Countries. How Is That Possible?". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 de Vries, Alex; Stoll, Christian (December 2021). "Bitcoin's growing e-waste problem". Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 175: 105901. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105901. ISSN   0921-3449. S2CID   240585651. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 Lal, Apoorv; Zhu, Jesse; You, Fengqi (13 November 2023). "From Mining to Mitigation: How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development and Climate Action". ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering . 11 (45): 16330–16340. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05445. ISSN   2168-0485. S2CID   264574360. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stoll, Christian; Klaaßen, Lena; Gallersdörfer, Ulrich; Neumüller, Alexander (June 2023). Climate Impacts of Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. (Report). Working Paper Series. MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 Wendl, Moritz; Doan, My Hanh; Sassen, Remmer (15 January 2023). "The environmental impact of cryptocurrencies using proof of work and proof of stake consensus algorithms: A systematic review". Journal of Environmental Management . 326 (Pt A): 116530. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116530. ISSN   0301-4797. PMID   36372031. S2CID   253476551. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 de Vries et al. 2022, p. 498.
  7. 1 2 Dance, Gabriel J. X.; Wallace, Tim; Levitt, Zach (10 April 2023). "The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 Neumueller, Alexander (31 August 2023). "Bitcoin electricity consumption: an improved assessment". Cambridge Judge Business School . Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 de Vries et al. 2022, p. 499.
  10. ↑ Sai, Ashish Rajendra; Vranken, Harald (2024). "Promoting rigor in blockchain energy and environmental footprint research: A systematic literature review". Blockchain: Research and Applications. 5 (1): 100169. doi: 10.1016/j.bcra.2023.100169 . ISSN   2096-7209.
  11. ↑ de Vries et al. 2022, Data S1.
  12. ↑ Jones, Benjamin A.; Goodkind, Andrew L.; Berrens, Robert P. (29 September 2022). "Economic estimation of Bitcoin mining's climate damages demonstrates closer resemblance to digital crude than digital gold". Scientific Reports . 12 (1): 14512. Bibcode:2022NatSR..1214512J. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-18686-8. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   9522801 . PMID   36175441.
  13. ↑ Akhtar, Tanzeel; Shukla, Sidhartha (17 May 2022). "China Makes a Comeback in Bitcoin Mining Despite Government Ban". Bloomberg News . Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  14. ↑ de Vries et al. 2022, pp. 501–502.
  15. ↑ Coutts, Jamie Douglas (14 September 2023). "Bitcoin and the Energy Debate: Bitcoin's Energy Narrative Reverses as Sustainables Exceed 50%". Bloomberg Intelligence .
  16. ↑ Szalay, Eva (19 January 2022). "EU should ban energy-intensive mode of crypto mining, regulator says". Financial Times . Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  17. ↑ Gschossmann, Isabella; van der Kraaij, Anton; Benoit, Pierre-Loïc; Rocher, Emmanuel (11 July 2022). "Mining the environment – is climate risk priced into crypto-assets?". Macroprudential Bulletin (18). European Central Bank. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Ibañez, Juan Ignacio; Freier, Alexander (September 2023). "Bitcoin's Carbon Footprint Revisited: Proof of Work Mining for Renewable Energy Expansion". Challenges. 14 (3): 35. doi: 10.3390/challe14030035 . ISSN   2078-1547.
  19. ↑ Yaffe-Bellany, David (22 March 2022). "Bitcoin Miners Want to Recast Themselves as Eco-Friendly". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  20. ↑ Mundy, Simon; Yoshida, Kaori (12 December 2023). "COP28: The struggle to say 'fossil fuels' out loud". Financial Times .
  21. 1 2 Velický, Matěj (27 February 2023). "Renewable Energy Transition Facilitated by Bitcoin". ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering . 11 (8): 3160–3169. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06077 . ISSN   2168-0485. S2CID   256788823.
  22. ↑ Bruno, August; Weber, Paige; Yates, Andrew J. (August 2023). "Can Bitcoin mining increase renewable electricity capacity?". Resource and Energy Economics . 74: 101376. doi: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2023.101376 . hdl: 10419/266008 . ISSN   0928-7655.
  23. ↑ Lal, Apoorv; Niaz, Haider; Liu, J. Jay; You, Fengqi (1 February 2024). "Can bitcoin mining empower energy transition and fuel sustainable development goals in the US?". Journal of Cleaner Production . 439: 140799. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.140799. S2CID   267084404.
  24. 1 2 Corbet, Shaen; Yarovaya, Larisa (24 August 2020). "The environmental effects of cryptocurrencies". In Corbet, Shaen; Urquhart, Andrew; Yarovaya, Larisa (eds.). Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology. De Gruyter. p. 154. doi:10.1515/9783110660807-009. ISBN   978-3-11-066080-7. S2CID   240881482. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  25. ↑ Lorenzato, Gianni; Tordo, Silvana; Howells, Huw Martyn; Berg, Berend van den (20 May 2022). Financing Solutions to Reduce Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions. World Bank. pp. 98–104. ISBN   978-1-4648-1850-9. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  26. ↑ Calma, Justine (4 April 2022). "Why fossil fuel companies see green in Bitcoin mining projects / And why it's risky business". The Verge . Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Agur, Itai; Lavayssière, Xavier; Villegas Bauer, Germán; Deodoro, Jose; Martinez Peria, Soledad; Sandri, Damiano; Tourpe, Hervé (October 2023). "Lessons from crypto assets for the design of energy efficient digital currencies". Ecological Economics . 212: 107888. Bibcode:2023EcoEc.21207888A. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107888. S2CID   259798489. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  28. ↑ Heinonen, Henri T.; Semenov, Alexander; Veijalainen, Jari; Hamalainen, Timo (14 July 2022). "A Survey on Technologies Which Make Bitcoin Greener or More Justified". IEEE Access . 10: 74792–74814. Bibcode:2022IEEEA..1074792H. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3190891 . S2CID   250580065.
  29. ↑ Sai, Ashish Rajendra; Vranken, Harald (2024). "Promoting rigor in blockchain energy and environmental footprint research: A systematic literature review". Blockchain: Research and Applications. 5 (1): 100169. doi: 10.1016/j.bcra.2023.100169 . ISSN   2096-7209.
  30. 1 2 de Vries, Alex (29 November 2023). "Bitcoin's growing water footprint". Cell Reports Sustainability. 1. doi: 10.1016/j.crsus.2023.100004 .
  31. ↑ "China's Crypto Mining Crackdown Followed Deadly Coal Accidents". Bloomberg.com. 26 May 2021. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  32. ↑ Zhu, Mingzhe (15 April 2023). "The 'bitcoin judgements' in China: Promoting climate awareness by judicial reasoning?". Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law. 32 (1): 158–162. doi:10.1111/reel.12496. ISSN   2050-0386. S2CID   257596912.
  33. ↑ OSTP (8 September 2022), Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States (PDF), White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, archived (PDF) from the original on 5 January 2023, retrieved 28 December 2022
  34. ↑ Lee, Stephen (21 November 2022). "EPA Acknowledges Plans to Look at Crypto Energy Usage, Emissions". Bloomberg Law . Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  35. 1 2 Bologna, Michael J. "Texas Offers New Tax Benefit to Attract Bitcoin Miners". Bloomberg Tax . Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  36. ↑ Paas-Lang, Christian (18 March 2023). "Crypto at a crossroads: Some provinces are wary of the technology's vast appetite for electricity". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  37. ↑ Dekeyrel, Simon; Fessler, Melanie (27 September 2023). "Digitalisation: an enabler for the clean energy transition". Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law: 1–25. doi:10.1080/02646811.2023.2254103. ISSN   0264-6811. S2CID   263172033. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.