American scientists have warned of the negative impact of bitcoin mining on the climate. According to their observations, this process requires more electricity than is used by “whole countries”, reports The Guardian.
The publication cites the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index from Cambridge University researchers. According to him, the amount of energy used to create cryptocurrency has reached a level equivalent to Argentina’s annual carbon footprint. According to Benjamin Jones, professor of economics at the University of New Mexico, it is about tens of terawatts of electricity per year that are used only for mining.
The publication explains that the bitcoin mining algorithm becomes more complicated as the amount of cryptocurrency increases. At the moment, more than 18.5 million bitcoins have been mined out of 21 million possible, so mining requires special computer equipment with high computing power and, as a result, more energy for its operation.
Bitcoin mining is a big issue for governments and corporations looking to limit their carbon footprint. At the same time, Bitcoin remains the leading cryptocurrency. Therefore, the impact of the currency on the environment is likely to increase, the publication suggests.
Earlier in February, the analytical platform Digiconomist reported that the amount of electricity required for mining is comparable to what an entire country consumes in a year. Mining produces 36.95 megatons of carbon dioxide per year, similar to New Zealand. The emission of carbon dioxide that accompanies electricity generation, in turn, increases the greenhouse effect on the planet.
Bitcoin began to rally in March 2020 amid news of the evolving coronavirus pandemic as global stock markets and oil prices crashed. Over the past year, the cryptocurrency has quadrupled in price and by the beginning of January 2021 almost broke through the mark of 42 thousand dollars, and by February 20 – 57 thousand dollars per coin. Soon, the price of the cryptocurrency began to decline, at the time of publication of the material, Bitcoin cost 46.3 thousand dollars.