New digital currencies implemented on the planet worry experts due to their strong ecological footprint. UN study reveals smoking’s hidden environmental impact bitcoin, Since the global cryptocurrency mining network heavily dependent on fossil fuelsThe new assessment, published in the journal ‘Earth’s Future’, warns that it has a significant carbon footprint as well as a worrying impact on water and soil.
The extraordinary increase in cryptocurrency prices in the last decade has led to large investments in the sector. Thanks to blockchain and other technological advances, Digital currencies are now an advanced element of the world’s modern financial systemwith an explosion comparable to a gold rush. However, according to research, this exciting market also has a hidden dark side.
Bitcoin is the most known and popular cryptocurrency. This motivated UN scientists to assess Bitcoin’s environmental impacts worldwide by looking at the activities of 76 Bitcoin mining countries during 2020-2021 and The results are “shocking”. In addition to a significant carbon footprint, global Bitcoin mining operations also have significant water and land footprints.
In addition to a significant carbon footprint, global Bitcoin mining activities also have a major impact on water and land
“Technological innovations are often associated with unintended consequences, and Bitcoin is no exception,” warns Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), who led this study. The results should not discourage the use of digital currencies, but rather encourage us to invest. regulatory interventions and technological advances To increase the efficiency of the global financial system without harming the environment.
Same energy consumption of 230 million people
According to the results of the research published by the United Nations University, During 2020-2021, the global Bitcoin mining network consumed 173.42 Terawatt hours of electricity. This means that if Bitcoin were a country, its energy consumption would rank 27th in the world, ahead of a country like Pakistan, whose population exceeds 230 million.
The resulting carbon footprint This was equivalent to burning 84 billion pounds of coal or powering 190 natural gas power plants. To offset this footprint, 3.9 billion trees would need to be planted, covering an area almost equal to that of the Netherlands, Switzerland or Denmark, or 7% of the Amazon rainforest.
During this time, Bitcoin’s water footprint was similar to the amount of water needed to fill more than 660,000 Olympic-sized swimming poolsThis is enough to meet the current domestic water needs of more than 300 million people in rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa. During this period, the land footprint of worldwide Bitcoin mining operations was 1.4 times the area of Los Angeles.
Bitcoin is dependent on dirty fuels
UN scientists say Bitcoin mining is largely dependent on fossil energy sources, Coal represents 45% of Bitcoin’s energy supply mix, followed by natural gas (21%). Hydropower, a renewable energy source with significant impacts on water and the environment, is the most important renewable energy source of the Bitcoin mining network, meeting 16% of electricity demand.
Nuclear energy accounts for a significant 9% share in Bitcoin’s energy supply mixThey point out that renewable energies such as solar and wind provide only 2% and 5% of the total electricity Bitcoin uses.
China becomes by far the largest Bitcoin mining country. To offset carbon emissions from China’s carbon-intensive Bitcoin mining operations in 2021-2022, approximately 2 billion trees would need to be planted, covering an area equivalent to the size of Portugal and Ireland combined, or 45,000 times the area of New York’s Central Park. Apart from China, the top 10 Bitcoin mining countries in the world in 2020-2021 include the United States, Kazakhstan, Russia, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, Iran, Ireland and Singapore.
Nearly 2 billion trees need to be planted in 2021-2022 to offset carbon emissions from China’s Bitcoin mining
“As countries use different energy sources to produce electricity, the impact of their electricity production on climate, water and land is not the same,” explains Sanaz Chamanara, lead author of the study and UNU Environment and Governance (EGS) researcher. -INWEH–. “The ranking of countries in terms of the environmental impact of Bitcoin operations varies depending on which environmental footprint is taken into account.”
Norway, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom are among the countries that make the top 10 list when considering the water or land footprint of Bitcoin mining activities. On the whole, The top 10 Bitcoin mining countries in terms of environmental footprint are responsible for 92-94% of global carbon, water and land footprints of Bitcoin.
UN scientists make a number of recommendations on possible government interventions to control and reduce the environmental impacts of cryptocurrencies. They also recommend Invest in other types of digital currencies that are more energy efficient and less harmful to the environment. The research also highlights the cross-border and intergenerational impacts of cryptocurrency mining.
“When you look at which groups are currently benefiting from Bitcoin mining and which nations and generations will suffer the most from its environmental consequences, you can’t help but think about the consequences of the inequality and injustice of the unregulated digital currency industry,” Madani says. . .
ANDreference work: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023EF003871
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