There’s been a lot of fud surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) and its “energy guzzling network”. With a just little objective research, however, you quickly realise Bitcoin and its proof-of-work system is actually good for the environment.
That’s right: Bitcoin is good for the environment.
According to a recent report, Bitcoin’s power consumption is 92.8 terawatt hours (TWh), slightly more than Pakistan, and catching up quickly to The Netherlands.
Data like this is being used by many critics to spread fud, who claim it to be the catastrophe of all catastrophes that will usher in the apocalypse we were all promised.
But the fact is Bitcoin is good for the environment, and as the network continues to grow it will one day use more energy than everything else.
Pakistan, Netherlands and everything else that needs energy, combined, and that will benefit both the environment and humanity.
Bitcoin And Its Energy Guzzling Network
Bitcoin is a proof-of-work protocol that requires the use of computer processing machines (mining devices) to help verify transactions and secure the network.
The more Bitcoin miners that join the network, the more electricity needed.
There’s no exact science to how much energy it takes to mine 1 Bitcoin, because things change every two weeks due to the Difficulty Adjustment.
This is the set difficulty of the cryptography asked by the Bitcoin protocol of the miners, which then frantically process away to find the answer and hopefully win the Bitcoin block reward.
The harder the cryptographic puzzle is, the more electricity used to find the answer. And the more Bitcoin miners that join the network, the harder it will continue to get.
So, as billions of dollars continue to be invested in the mining industry, and the more profitable Bitcoin mining gets, the more electricity will be needed to mine every single Bitcoin.
But fear not, because as I said, that is good for the environment.
The Apocalyptic Environmentalist Fudsters
First let’s look at what the fudsters are claiming about Bitcoin.
A recent fud storm on Twitter by Stephen Diehl adjudged Bitcoin to be a ‘a giant smouldering Chernobyl’ and likened it to a pyramid scheme in which ‘value can be created out of nothing.’
Firstly, every bitcoin is worked into existence and paid for by the energy used and investment in the mining devices (hence your Chernobyl analogy, Stephen). And the only “money” created out of nothing is fiat, you know that stuff used to continuously bail out the legacy financial system.
The fud storm also claims the Bitcoin network produces 11.27 kilotons of waste annually because of the need for Bitcoin miners to regularly update their mining equipment.
Diehl, a programmer apparently, used a Nature Climate Change article to back up his theory. The article claims ‘Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°C.’
All this led real Diehl to speculate that buying your morning coffee with Bitcoin would equate to ‘smashing an iPhone and burning enough fossil fuels to run your entire household for 60 days.’
Imagine the battery acid his decaf tastes like!
Compared With The Legacy System, Bitcoin Is Good For The Environment
Surprisingly, Diehl and his referenced Climate Change scientists never once mentioned the amount of renewable energy used by the majority of Bitcoin miners.
According to a report by the University of Cambridge, ’76% of digital currency miners use renewable power sources’, and now that renewable energy can be converted into value, it’s speeding up renewable innovation.
Renewable energy sources such as hydropower, wind, and solar energy have always been more expensive than burning fossil fuels, so the investment has always been limited.
With Bitcoin there’s good reason to invest in renewable innovation.
Electricity doesn’t travel far or last long so investing in renewable and green innovation has always been ignored by most parts of the world.
Anywhere that gets guaranteed sunshine or blustery winds can and are now innovating and building giant energy plants, and turning that into value by mining Bitcoin.
But it’s more energy being created to mine Bitcoin, how is that good for the environment?
No financial industry is good for the environment, but Bitcoin is promoting renewable innovation at a pace never seen before.
It’s speeding up innovation of solar and all other renewables, and the more profitable Bitcoin mining is, the more investment in innovation will continue.
And the innovation from this will be utilised by every company in every device in the future, whether it’s your central heating, car or refrigerator.
The Legacy Financial System Consumes More Energy
Another thing Diehl and his scientists from Nature Climate Change forgot to mention was the insurmountable cost of operating the global financial system.
According to a 2015 report by Climate State, the banking system alone used up 100 TWh, currently more than the Bitcoin network.
This report doesn’t include VISA, MasterCard, Money Transmitters, Wall Street, London Stock Exchange, Tokyo and every other financial entity around the world.
Every credit card production, delivery, and transaction uses energy, as do the buildings that they and all the other financial entities are headquartered and/or distributed in.
This legacy financial system burns so much coal and other fossil fuels to help it maintain its control, and has done for centuries without any urgency to try and innovate green energy. Yet, Diehl and a few institutionally funded scientists try and discredit Bitcoin for burning wasted energy.
Bitcoin Is Good For The Environment
Bitcoin consumes more energy than Pakistan. And due to its future success, it will eventually consume more energy than everything else combined.
Bitcoin is the fairest monetary system ever created. It consumes energy among other things to help protect it from control and manipulation by the few – the very essence of the legacy financial system.
The costs of running the legacy financial system would be seen as catastrophic for the environment if environmental scientists researched closely enough.
Stephen Diehl and his scientists try to liken Bitcoin the Pyramid of Chernobyl, but the fact is the legacy system is a pyramid scheme designed to pollute society and enrich a few.
The legacy system was necessary before, but look how the environment suffered under that. We never had another option.
No industry is a positive for the environment, but humanity needs a financial system.
We now have a financial system that’s fair, and one that is promoting renewable innovation. Unlike the legacy financial system, Bitcoin is good for the environment.
Author: Tommy Limpitlaw
Bitcoin FAQs
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer money that nobody can manipulate. It’s all set in the Bitcoin codebase which is secured by hundreds of thousands of computers all around the world. Bitcoins can be sent by anybody and no third party is need to verify the transactions, and nobody can stop Bitcoins being sent.
Yes. Every Bitcoin can broken down into 100 million bits. They are known as satoshis, after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. And some companies will let you buy as little as $1 worth of Bitcoin, which at time of writing is worth about 11,000 satoshis. There are many companies that have a system for dollar cost averaging (DCA). This is a great way to buy Bitcoin, and is known in the space as ‘Stacking Sats’. Basically, what you do is set up small automatic, recurring payments to buy Bitcoin (or sats), and you DCA over time.
Nothing is really free, because even when you earn free Bitcoins you’re giving up your time, which is precious. But you can earn free Bitcoins. If you are a gamer, there are games like Bitcoin Bounty Hunt where you shoot your way to Bitcoin riches. Or there’s Carrot – a platform where you can earn free Bitcoin for doing tasks. Or you can save your Bitcoin in an interest bearing account and earn some Bitcoin interest. Be careful with interest bearing accounts, and only go with legitimate companies, though. I recommend Blockfi, you can read the review here.
There is no exact science for the cost of mining a bitcoin, because the price will change every two weeks maximum. This is because there’s a Difficulty Adjustment that ensures it takes about 10 minutes to mine a block. And with other costs, such as your mining equipment, electricity, and other costs, it’s estimated that the average price to mine a bitcoin is around $12,500.
A Bitcoiner since 2017 and a Bitcoin Maximalist since 2018, Tommy is our main writer and editor at Bitcoin Maximalist. Other than researching and writing about Bitcoin, Tommy loves spending time with his family and supporting his beloved Leeds United.
