It has been argued countless times that Bitcoin(BTC)trade is in general not good for the environment. More specifically, the energy required to mine Bitcoin is tremendous and since a major source of our energy globally comes from non-renewable energy sources like coal, Bitcoin mining is contributing to the release of harmful gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) that are in general not good for the environment and are in fact expediting global warming.
We are here to tell you that this argument is false, at least according to a recent research by CoinDCA, and that Bitcoin is in fact good for your environment. Here’s why…
While it is true that Bitcoin mining demands significant energy (currently, Bitcoin mining energy demands make up 0.21% of global electricity consumption), the problem is not with the consumption of energy. Take India for example: It is the third largest producer of electricity, but India has the greatest growth rate in terms of CO2 emissions and is poised to take all other major contributors down.
So, the real question we should be asking ourselves is where is that energy coming from? In a study posted back in July this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the majority of the electricity used when mining Bitcoin actually comes from clean sources, like wind, solar, and hydropower.
More specifically, the estimates from the study suggest that over 74% of all global Bitcoin mining is powered by renewable energy. If that is the case, then researchers and policy makers should be more concerned about China and India’s emissions.
Bitcoin Mining Can Be an Incentive for Green Energy Producers
Secondly, construction of Bitcoin mining sites offers incentives to green energy producers to invest more in the infrastructure and sell the surplus energy to these sites that require electricity round the clock.
Think of it in another way: your local town as a bunch of windmills installed that supply your town with electricity all the time. But at night time, when the electricity usage significantly drops, where does the surplus energy go? With the current traditional methods, it should have gone to waste but not so if one of your clients is one of these cryptocurrency mining sites that are almost always in need of more energy.
Bitcoin miners are very mobile in nature. They are in constant search for cheap electricity and most often, they settle for a green energy supplier who has some surplus to give away at a cheaper rate.
So, in a way, Bitcoin mining is good for the environment because it is incentivizing people to set up green energy production sites and it is guaranteeing them that the wasted energy produced from these clean sources will be used anyhow.
