According to public data from the University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and the International Energy Agency (IEA), the carbon emission intensity of Bitcoin (BTC) may have reached its peak.
The impact of Bitcoin’s electricity use on the environment is a favorite topic of its critics and reporters on crypto beats. But based on available data, the retired chartered professional engineer Hasmecook believes that Bitcoin’s carbon emissions “have reached its peak a few months ago.”
McCook unzips the data and defend This conclusion was reached in a guest article published on the Bitcoin Magazine website on Friday:
“From the above situation, Bitcoin’s emissions seem to have peaked a few months ago. Fortunately, with China’s ban on Bitcoin mining, it has begun to move towards zero emissions. It is expected that in the worst case, from In five years, Bitcoin’s emissions will be less than one-third of today’s, and 10 years later, Bitcoin will not emit at all.”
BitAll’s Bitcoin mining infrastructure was created in the past 12 years, providing miners with a “late-mover advantage” to use the latest and most sustainable green power technology to mine Bitcoin.
Data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Power Consumption Index Suggest The “grid strength” (carbon emissions per unit of electricity consumption) of global bitcoin mining is cleaner than the average of the entire global grid. The world average is 463 grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilowatt hour. Bitcoin miners average 418 grams.
At the same time, according to the International Energy Agency, if the energy economy remains on track in the forecast for 2021 and the following years, the world’s power grid intensity will peak sometime last year.
By design, the computer running Bitcoin Core to verify and place the new block on the Bitcoin blockchain needs some power to correctly guess the input of the SHA-256 cryptographic hash.
SHA-256 (abbreviation of Secure Hashing Algorithm) is a one-way hash function released by the National Security Agency in 2001 and is an integral part of Bitcoin’s design architecture. The computer tests the guess by entering it into the algorithm and seeing if it matches the hash on the previous block. The first node to correctly guess the hash value will place the next transaction block and reward the newly created Bitcoin to the Bitcoin miner.
This proof-of-work or PoW mechanism makes nodes eligible to participate in the network by forcing miners to bear the cost of electricity, and if their computers try to cheat the rules of the network, they risk losing operating costs and become unprofitable.
Some Bitcoin critics and even supporters say that its energy consumption will bring environmental risks and may lead to man-made global warming. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was famous this year for announcing that the electric car manufacturer would accept BTC for Tesla, which caused the price of Bitcoin to plummet, and then backed down.
Musk Say When 50% or more of the miners’ energy use is reasonably confirmed to come from a “clean energy” source, Tesla will start accepting Bitcoin again.
McCook said that most Bitcoin emission statements are exaggerated:
“one The most widely debunked, But the still widely quoted argument about’academic’ is that Bitcoin will single-handedly raise the earth’s temperature by 2 degrees Celsius. “
This week, the Bitcoin Mining Commission’s investigation report is released Estimated 56% of sustainable electricity According to the responses of respondents, the portfolio in the global Bitcoin mining business in the second quarter of 2021.
