Bitcoin’s Mining Carbon Footprint
The amount of Carbon Footprint created by Bitcoin Mining –
Using the new technology and software, the overall carbon footprint created by Bitcoin mining has dropped down, but still, it’s more than the greenhouse gases generated by several nations.
As Bitcoin mining creates an almost similar amount of emissions to countries such as Nepal and the Central African Republic, and about half of the emissions from gold mining.
How much greenhouse gas is actually emitted by Bitcoin Mining –
The new tool created for calculating emission estimates current greenhouse gas emissions of 48.35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to (MtCO2e), or 0.10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is similar to the emissions of countries such as Nepal and the Central African Republic.
Environmentalists, financial institutions, and policymakers are growing increasingly concerned about Bitcoin’s seemingly insatiable electricity consumption and its associated environmental repercussions.
Calculating the Emission –
The CCAF has developed a tool to estimate Bitcoin’s environmental footprint on a day-to-day basis. Alexander Neumueller, Digital Assets CBECI Project Lead at CCAF, stated “Environmentalists, financial institutions and policymakers are growing increasingly concerned about Bitcoin’s electricity consumption and its associated environmental repercussions.”
The tool created for computation estimates the use of sustainable energy sources in Bitcoin’s electricity mix at 37.6% (26.3% renewable and 11.3% nuclear), which is comparatively lower than industry estimates suggest (59.5%).
Change in perspectives after stats –
After the result, Neumeller further added to his statement that“A significant decrease in mining profitability led to a decline in electricity consumption.”
“Given the recent sharp decline in mining revenue per unit of computing power provided, a shift to more efficient hardware occurs, which leads to the, at least temporary, retirement of older, less efficient hardware.”
