Research: Bitcoin mining creates climate damage that exceeds the value of the currency
Researchers from the University of New Mexico found that the energy required to produce the digital currency exceeds that of meat production, and damages the environment almost as much as crude oil
Bitcoin mining is more harmful than beef production and damages the environment almost as much as crude oil – according to a study that claims that the digital currency causes more damage to the climate over time.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Scientists from the University of New Mexico published an analysis in Scientific Reports that claims that, in contrast to being “digital gold”, mining requires much more energy and has an environmental impact similar to beef, natural gas and crude oil.
The study’s author, Professor Benjamin Jones, said: “Globally, the mining or production of Bitcoin uses huge amounts of electricity, mainly from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. This causes huge amounts of air pollution and carbon emissions, which adversely affects Our global climate and our health.”
“We found a number of cases between 2016 and 2021 where Bitcoin did more damage to the climate than what a single Bitcoin is actually worth. In other words – Bitcoin mining, in some cases, creates climate damage that exceeds the value of the currency. This is extremely disturbing because of the perspectives that exist about it.”
The research team examined how Bitcoin harms the environment according to three sustainability criteria: does the estimated climate damage increase over time, does Bitcoin’s climate damage exceed the market price, and what is the climate damage as a part of the market price compared to other industries and products.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
The results showed that CO2 emissions from Bitcoin mining increased 126 times – from 0.9 tons per coin in 2016 to 113 tons in 2021.
Climate damage peaked in May 2020, as 156 percent of the coin’s price caused environmental damage, making the damage to the environment greater than the coin’s true value.
In fact, for every US dollar in Bitcoin’s market value, that translates into $1.56 in global climate damage, as the findings show.
Climate damage for electricity produced by natural gas averaged 46 percent, and gasoline produced from crude oil averaged 41 percent. However, Bitcoin’s environmental damage has surpassed beef production, where climate damage accounts for 33 percent.
Along with the obvious environmental problems of Bitcoin, it should be remembered that not all cryptocurrencies are involved, when many companies
It should be remembered that not all cryptocurrencies are involved, as various companies are working to solve the environmental problems in order to make digital currencies sustainable and reject the criticisms against them. For example, Ethereum, the second strongest currency after Bitcoin, came out very recently with a new update that actually reduces 99.95% of the energy it consumes.
? Did the article interest you?