![]() It’s worth noting that many cryptocurrencies already use much less energy-intensive processes than Bitcoin’s proof of work. ![]() If crypto mining isn’t sustaining itself on renewables right now, might it in the future? Fred Thiel, the CEO of the crypto mining company Marathon Digital Holdings, has announced his intention to make the company fully carbon-neutral by the end of this year, and says that companies like his could have a huge impact on the future of the renewable energy industry. The company also plans to appeal the denial of its air permits and remain operational.Ĭlaim: Crypto mining will lead to a renewable energy boom. Yvonne Taylor, vice-president of Seneca Lake Guardian, an environmental non-profit, told TIME in April that Greenidge would emit “ over a million tons of CO2 equivalents into the atmosphere every year, in addition to harmful particulate matter.”Ī representative for Greenidge wrote in an email to TIME that the company has offered to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from its currently permitted levels by 2025, and that it plans to be a “zero-carbon emitting power generation facility” by 2035. ![]() It’s now powered by natural gas, which is also fossil-fuel-based. In New York, Greenidge repurposed a coal power plant that was previously shuttered. Regardless of which statistic is closer to the truth, there are still many mining operations using non-green energy sources. George Kamiya, an energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, says that while the Bitcoin Mining Council likely has access to more data, its numbers come from a self-reported survey that lacks methodological details, and encouraged them to share the underlying data and methodology with outside researchers like Cambridge to increase their credibility. The Bitcoin Mining Council, an industry group, argues that 60% of mining comes from renewable sources, which is 20 percentage points higher than the number listed by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance. on June 30 when New York officials denied the air permits of Greenidge Generation, a Bitcoin mining operation, citing “substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the project.” The decision could set a precedent for how local jurisdictions across the country approach a hotly contested topic.Īt the moment, the rate at which crypto miners use renewable energy sources is heavily disputed. In the long run, they say, crypto will revolutionize the energy grid, and soak up excess energy that would have been otherwise wasted.Īs lobbyists have volleyed arguments on both sides, a blow was dealt to crypto mining’s hopes for rapid expansion in the U.S. They say that it offers a new, energy-hungry market that will encourage renewable projects. ![]() On the other side, members of the crypto community argue that crypto mining is actually good for the environment in several crucial ways. Studies estimate that Bitcoin mining, the process that safeguards the Bitcoin network, uses more power globally per year than most countries, including the Philippines and Venezuela. Pro-crypto posts on social media are often flooded with angry comments about the industry’s outsized contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Cryptocurrencies are bad for the environment-at least, that’s what most people online seem to believe. ![]()
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