{"id":26253,"date":"2021-10-21T13:05:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T11:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecryptowolf.net\/2021\/10\/21\/bitcoin-mining-council-sets-the-record-straight-on-btc-energy-costs-the-tokenist\/"},"modified":"2021-10-21T13:05:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T11:05:18","slug":"bitcoin-mining-council-sets-the-record-straight-on-btc-energy-costs-the-tokenist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecryptowolf.net\/2021\/10\/21\/bitcoin-mining-council-sets-the-record-straight-on-btc-energy-costs-the-tokenist\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Mining Council Sets The Record Straight on BTC Energy Costs – The Tokenist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Upon closer examination, mainstream narratives tend to fall apart. The same is true when we examine and properly contextualize Bitcoin\u2019s carbon footprint, courtesy of the Bitcoin Mining Council.<\/p>\n
Over the years mainstream Bitcoin coverage has slowly shifted in tone. Within the first half of the decade, since Bitcoin launched in 2009, it was commonplace to tie Bitcoin to the internet\u2019s dark underbelly and shady dealings.<\/p>\n
As crypto adoption increased regardless, the MSM narrative slowly shifted to talk about Bitcoin\u2019s energy waste. The headline recipe became simple: \u2018Bitcoin uses as much energy as X country\u2019.<\/p>\n
This begs the question: if Bitcoin\u2019s blockchain network does use an equal amount of electricity as X country, is this good or bad? As a global payment and wealth storing network, should it use less or more? In other words, against which metric is fair to say what level of energy Bitcoin deserves to use?<\/p>\n
In May, we attempted to answer that question by covering the Galaxy Digital study. It revealed that the banking industry uses 2.1x more energy than Bitcoin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Does that mean banks\u2019 data servers are extremely wasteful and should be treated as such by the MSM headlines? On top of that, there is the matter of an exceedingly long carbon footprint tail the current financial infrastructure drags along:<\/p>\n These are all activities that leave a heavy carbon footprint. At the same time, to access blockchain finance one only needs a smartphone. More importantly, if we take the carbon footprint metric at face value, can the destabilizing effect of central bank money-printing even be measured?<\/p>\n By now, it is clear that a drastic increase in money supply increases inflation<\/a>, yet the effect of inflation on the environment is a barely broached subject. While inflation erodes the living standards of most people, we can also see that less-developed nations tend to pollute more because there is less incentive to invest in post-industrial cleanup and renewable technologies. They are simply viewed as luxuries, as demonstrated by IQAir\u2019s extensive pollution ranking<\/a> of countries.<\/p>\n To secure its trustless network that now holds over one trillion dollars in market capitalization, Bitcoin uses around 106.3 Terawatt hours\/per annum, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index<\/a>. This represents 0.55% of global energy output. If such a level of energy consumption is justifiable or necessary, is a matter of one\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n Bitcoin emerged as a deflationary counter to central banking. In turn, central banks often funnel money into devastating wars with far-reaching consequences. In fact, central banks first emerged as tools to fund nation-states<\/a> in times of war.<\/p>\n From this single perspective, 0.5% of global energy expenditure is a small price to pay for creating an alternative financial system. However, the more salient point is that not all energy is created equal. Bitcoin\u2019s carbon footprint doesn\u2019t directly translate from its energy expenditure but what kind of energy sources it uses.<\/p>\n The Tokenist<\/em> had already covered a strong push to make Bitcoin go fully green. This ranges from tapping into wasted gas<\/a> and nuclear microreactors<\/a> to El Salvador\u2019s volcanic geothermal energy<\/a>. This is not only important to counter unfavorable MSM headlines, but to also counter the upcoming environmental thresholds imposed by the UN \u2013 the Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER<\/a>) framework.<\/p>\n It turns out, the Bitcoin Mining Council is way ahead of the green game. It consists of 29 mining and DeFi companies, representing 33% of Bitcoin\u2019s mining network. Some notable ones are:<\/p>\n In short, Bitcoin Mining Council is a list of who\u2019s who in the blockchain space. In its most recent report for Q3 2021<\/a>, Bitcoin\u2019s position is further fortified as green. While the report estimates Bitcoin\u2019s global energy usage at 188 TW\/h, it also arrives at 0.5% electricity drain. However, of that 0.5%, Bitcoin\u2019s mining network siphons 0.38% of the world\u2019s wasted energy.<\/p>\n This finding that Bitcoin uses 76% of energy that would have gone to waste is corroborated with previous reports. Specifically, two years ago, CoinShares issued a report concluding that 74% of Bitcoin mining utilizes renewable energy<\/a>. If we were to look at the comparison by nation narrative, Bitcoin\u2019s annualized electricity use represents only 0.122% on the global stage, if the wasted part is subtracted.<\/p>\n Moreover, according to BMC data, the Bitcoin mining network is ahead of Europe\u2019s leaders in renewables. For instance, BTC\u2019s 65.9% primary sustainable energy TW\/h percentage is ahead of Germany\u2019s 48.5%. The most telling part is that Bitcoin\u2019s much-maligned energy usage is still less than both video gaming and holiday lights, not to mention three times lower than gold mining.<\/p>\n One wonders if we will see headlines bemoaning the use of Holiday lights this season? Moving forward, computing power efficiency has also drastically increased, by 42x, as one would have expected from Moore\u2019s Law. From this, the report concludes that not only will Bitcoin mining tap into more renewables, but become even more energy efficient in the next eight years.<\/p>\n Finance is changing.<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn how, with Five Minute Finance.<\/p>\n A weekly newsletter that covers the big trends in FinTech and Decentralized Finance.<\/p>\n\n
What is Bitcoin\u2019s Current Energy Usage Level?<\/h3>\n
Bitcoin Mining Council Q3 2021 Report on Bitcoin\u2019s Mining Evolution<\/h3>\n
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