If the supremacy of bitcoin on the cryptocurrency market does not suffer from any dispute, its environmental impact remains questionable on the other hand. Indeed, bitcoin mining is regularly criticized for its high energy consumption and the resulting gas emissions. However, the use of alternative energy sources could allow the grid to one day display a carbon neutral balance. More details in the following.
Flaring gas and methane to power BTC miners
Several alternative energy sources are used to date to reduce the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin network. These include flaring gas available on oil extraction platforms or methane released by organic waste. This form of valorization also makes it possible toavoid these gases being emitted directly into the atmosphere. Environmentalist and supporter of bitcoin, Daniel Batten was interested in the contribution of BTC miners using the previously mentioned energy sources.
Based on data from the Bitcoin Mining Council, he claims that the Bitcoin network could have a carbon neutral balance thanks to them. Indeed, Mr Batten revealed that their efforts are already making it possible to reduce network emissions by 63%. « This means that the 1.57% of the Bitcoin network that use negative carbon sources have an impact of -4.2% on the carbon emission of the Bitcoin network “, he concluded in his study report. This is a strong argument to convince all the miners on the network to resort to this practice.
The massive use of these alternative energy sources for mining on the Bitcoin network could therefore endow the latter with a carbon neutral balance. At the same time, it will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world. This contribution to the preservation of the environment will allow BTC miners to restore the image of bitcoin with regulators.
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Far from having cooled my ardor, an unsuccessful investment in 2017 on a cryptocurrency only increased my enthusiasm. I therefore resolved to study and understand the blockchain and its many uses and to relay information related to this ecosystem with my pen.
