<
https://www.sciencealert.com/bitcoins-climate-impact-is-bigger-than-beef-farming-and-its-only-getting-worse>
"Based on its market share, the world's most notorious cryptocurrency, Bitcoin,
results in more climate damage than the production of beef and nearly as much
damage as crude oil, researchers in the United States have calculated.
The findings of the new three-pronged analysis suggest Bitcoin is potentially
unsustainable and could have disastrous social and environmental repercussions
in the future.
From 2016 to 2021, CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions for Bitcoin went
from less than a tonne (metric ton) per coin to 113 tonnes per coin.
Each Bitcoin mined in 2021 likely resulted in US$11,315 in climate damages in
total, altogether amounting to about US$3.7 billion for that year alone.
To put that in perspective, researchers compared digital currency mining to
other energy-guzzling activities.
Bitcoin is a multi-billion dollar industry, and over the five-year study
period, researchers found that its climate damages averaged at 35 percent of
its market value. So that means if you take one US dollar of Bitcoin, about 35
cents of that dollar is climate damages.
Bitcoin's per-dollar climate damages were only slightly less than natural gas
(at 46 cents per dollar of value) and gasoline from crude oil (at 41 cents per
dollar of value).
But they were slightly more than beef production (33 cents) and far more than
gold mining (at 4 cents). None of these activities are currently considered
sustainable."
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
