I think mining will not get banned because that would be quite difficult to enforce in most scenarios, besides even if mining gets banned in a country with an important concentration of hashrate, it would translate into a migration of that hashrate to somewhere else. I believe the governments in the developed countries will apply heavier taxes and restrictions to miners or push them to go fully green or carbon neutral in order to operate their mining farms.
Most of the enforcing agencies are aware Bitcoin cannot be stopped easily so they would rather to at least profit from the mining in their territories, while pushing to a reduction of carbon footprint.
Topic: Do You Think Bitcoin Mining Will Be Banned Due to Fears of Climate Change? - page 3. (Read 1045 times)
October 23, 2022, 09:20:45 PM
October 23, 2022, 06:15:25 PM
Lemme know when they successfully ban The Pirate Bay. you know the one, that just keeps coming back.
When that happens. then I might start paying more attention to people trying to ban bitcoin
When that happens. then I might start paying more attention to people trying to ban bitcoin
October 23, 2022, 03:13:01 PM
This is not always the case. Many jurisdictions and companies pay fixed rates for electricity that they buy from consumers, such as from household solar, and the rates are often abysmal - a tiny fraction of the cost the consumer pays to buy electricity. Often it will be more profitable to use any excess electricity you generate at home to mine bitcoin than to sell it back for a cent or two per kWh.
Yup, ik about this. I don’t really include these cases, because we’re kind of dealing with distorted incentives here. In the beginning of the push for renewables the rates were actually pretty high, so even electricity that wasn’t really needed was given to the grid. And now over time we’re seeing the opposite development happening, abysmal rates and no incentive to really help the grid out.It’s just another display of the brokenness of central planning that even during sky high electricity rates, it’s the brokenness of the planning that is preventing more energy to be put on the market, which be reducing prices for everyone to some extent. And even during crisis no adjustment has been made.
These smaller producers are not really given access to the free market the same way as the big industrial energy producers. So free market incentives can’t play out in this case, they should rather mine Bitcoin than getting severely underpaid due to the incompetence of government.
October 23, 2022, 02:56:44 PM
Time and time again, different articles have shown that mining is not harmful to the environment as most of the media tries to make it look.
If for any reason they are able to ban btc mining. It still won't change anything or make the climate more better, btc mining is one part, what about other sectors whose activities also contribute to environmental pollution, what will happen to them?
If for any reason they are able to ban btc mining. It still won't change anything or make the climate more better, btc mining is one part, what about other sectors whose activities also contribute to environmental pollution, what will happen to them?
October 23, 2022, 02:26:30 PM
I think that the people who are worrying a lot about contamination are the ones who have previously done much more damage than those who are starting to do the mining exercise, everything was triggered by Elon Musk after having spoken so badly about Bitcoin, then awareness has been after the largest have torn the environment to pieces, currently only those who are doing mining are the most persecuted, by governments and now by environmental entities, if so, then those who have truly paid harmed the environment, which are not the ones right now, they have to be the others who have no conscience.
October 23, 2022, 01:04:21 PM
2. If energy prices are this high it’s more profitable to give energy to the grid than to mine Bitcoin with it for energy producers.
This is not always the case. Many jurisdictions and companies pay fixed rates for electricity that they buy from consumers, such as from household solar, and the rates are often abysmal - a tiny fraction of the cost the consumer pays to buy electricity. Often it will be more profitable to use any excess electricity you generate at home to mine bitcoin than to sell it back for a cent or two per kWh.However, one thing is for sure - Bitcoin cannot be considered the greenest currency out there.
You sure about that? Want to compare the environmental impact of the US dollar, from printing, moving, handling, etc., through to the electricity for banks, call centers, ATMs, etc., through to the military industrial complex which is built around maintaining its status? 
October 23, 2022, 11:32:50 AM
It would be very important if Bitcoin miners would find a way to lower their electricity costs.
When you say costs, you are thinking of consumption. Like any technology that evolves and improves, future ASIC miners will provide more hash power with lower energy requirements. That's how you decrease total consumption. If we look at the Chinese mining industry, where most Bitcoin mines operate...
Not anymore. That's a thing of the past. Mining bitcoin is no longer allowed by the Chinese government. Big players have reallocated to the US, Russia, Kazakhstan, and other nations that can provide affordable electricity. It looks like this is one of the attempts and a hot issue in the future to make it look much greener to Bitcoin miners now that renewable energy is becoming more affordable.
Bitcoin is already using plenty of clean and renewable energy in areas where that is possible. If not, like any other industry, mining companies will use what is available and what is cheap. October 23, 2022, 10:05:15 AM
Both the EU and the US are discussing new crypto regulations. One of their agendas is, again, the crypto economy's impact on the environment.
It is good to see that people are aware of the problems Bitcoin mining is causing and that the crypto community is looking for solutions to make it greener. It would be very important if Bitcoin miners would find a way to lower their electricity costs. However, one thing is for sure - Bitcoin cannot be considered the greenest currency out there.
If we look at the Chinese mining industry, where most Bitcoin mines operate, they must offset the costs of running their operations. Therefore, they have an added incentive to become a mini power plant.
The clean power they produce is fed back into the grid and sold as carbon credits to companies that do not have the ability to offset their emissions or purchase sufficient renewable energy credits. This in turn encourages all of these companies to adopt renewable energy or other carbon reduction or offset programs.
It looks like this is one of the attempts and a hot issue in the future to make it look much greener to Bitcoin miners now that renewable energy is becoming more affordable.
October 23, 2022, 09:51:21 AM
-snip-
Hence the harmful effects of Bitcoin mining pose a serious threat to our ecosystem.
I'm not really sure the impact will be as complex as you describe, then mining shouldn't be allowed in the first place. The threat to the ecosystem being talked about seems only to scare the world into considering bitcoin as one of those things that is not environmentally friendly. Maybe the impact is true if all mining projects require electricity generated from fuel and coal, but I think the impact will be greatly minimized with renewable energy.Hence the harmful effects of Bitcoin mining pose a serious threat to our ecosystem.
With renewable energy, I think the environmental impact is very much minimized and I think some bitcoin mining projects have adopted it instead of just relying on electricity generated through common energy sources like fuel and coal.
October 23, 2022, 09:09:49 AM
In today's world the use of Bitcoin is increasing, Bitcoin mining is increasing due to the widespread use of Bitcoin in other fields including Bitcoin investment. Studies have shown that electronic waste will increase as the price of Bitcoin increases, and Bitcoin mining requires large amounts of electricity as well as fuel oil, which poses a serious threat to the environment.
A 2021 study found that the total energy required for Bitcoin mining is 1% of the total energy on Earth. A group of researchers from the University of Cambridge conducted a study and revealed that Bitcoin mining consumes about 121 terawatts of electricity annually, which is equal to the entire electricity of a country.
In addition to all these negative aspects, Bitcoin mining is enough to pose a serious threat to countries that operate coal-based power plants. Every day millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air just for Bitcoin mining. As a result, along with the increase in the temperature of the environment, the melting of the ice in the polar regions will increase the height of the sea level. Due to this, the low-lying countries of the world will disappear under the sea.
Hence the harmful effects of Bitcoin mining pose a serious threat to our ecosystem.
A 2021 study found that the total energy required for Bitcoin mining is 1% of the total energy on Earth. A group of researchers from the University of Cambridge conducted a study and revealed that Bitcoin mining consumes about 121 terawatts of electricity annually, which is equal to the entire electricity of a country.
In addition to all these negative aspects, Bitcoin mining is enough to pose a serious threat to countries that operate coal-based power plants. Every day millions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the air just for Bitcoin mining. As a result, along with the increase in the temperature of the environment, the melting of the ice in the polar regions will increase the height of the sea level. Due to this, the low-lying countries of the world will disappear under the sea.
Hence the harmful effects of Bitcoin mining pose a serious threat to our ecosystem.
October 23, 2022, 07:31:19 AM
For all that it's worth, they can all take a hike. They'll have to ban BitcoinCleanup.com first before they can stand a chance of banning proof of work mining. A little nudge by a former Ripple CEO isn't going to change anything.
October 23, 2022, 07:19:09 AM
It’s like a self-regulating system that doesn’t take energy from where it’s too scarce, so bans won’t solve anything again like in china. It’s just another example of the incompetence of central authorities to handle crisis. They rather just use it for blame games against unwanted technologies and use arguments that sound logical on a surface level to fool 90% of people. Taking the most incompetent decisions just to maintain an image of competence to the public. Wasting time on irrelevant to the problem issues, so the public can feel like something is being done, while being distracted from actual solutions to the problem. Almost like they understand psychology really well.
It has always been easier for the politicians to find an scapegoat or a "bad guy" to blame everything on. In fact one of the reasons for the mass protests in Europe these days is that they have been blaming all the inflation and economical hardship on someone else (in this case Russia) to fool people into forgetting that they've been printing a shitton of money for the past 3 years and we've been warning about this day all this time. Now people see that lie so they revolt. October 23, 2022, 07:05:57 AM
I think they are trying to make it difficult for bitcoin because they simply want to manage it and will find a way to tax it. I think that's their end goal, they want the tax, they don't want us to go free with it without their permission.
As long as the owners of Bitcoin addresses aren't known and the protocol doesn't require that we identify ourselves to a governing body (which isn't the case), governments can never stop face-to-face meetings and exchanges as well as truly decentralized crypto marketplaces. 
October 23, 2022, 06:40:35 AM
Whatever they try, won't be able to stop Bitcoin mining anyway. Yea, Bitcoin haters always raise a question about the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining. They don't want to mention any other things that consume more energy than Bitcoin mining which is useless. However they can't stop mining, they would prevent using energy. So miners have to move renewable energy where always many mining farms doing the same.
I also voted for, government will force miners to use renewable energy to mine. Stopping bitcoin mining would be very difficult to do, and banning bitcoin outright wouldn't do them any good. I think they are trying to make it difficult for bitcoin because they simply want to manage it and will find a way to tax it. I think that's their end goal, they want the tax, they don't want us to go free with it without their permission.
October 23, 2022, 06:27:58 AM
If we hypothetically agree to all of these scenarios, do you think a government like that of the US or the CCP will mine BTC openly, even when they've 'openly' not supported either BTC or BTC mining all these years, or they are going mine secretly, another thing is, can we be sure some of these top government officials do not anonymously/secretly own BTC mining farms, they know what's good right 
.
Government officials can own their own businesses, and those businesses could include crypto-related companies. I don't think it will ever become an industry officially supported by the US or China. They can always have a hand in it through their influential corporate friends and business associates. .The problem then becomes one of accountability and sustainability, especially when energy sources like coal and oil are being subsidized by government entities who claim their environmental responsibility is not strong enough to lead the way into technologies like alternative energy or energy efficiency directives and standards.
The sun is free, they can't charge you for it. So is the wind and the power that comes from those sources. Big corporations don't profit from free. That's why Tesla (the man, not the car company) wasn't needed after a certain point. Not to mention that in China a large proportion was using excess energy from hydropower which was otherwise being wasted during periods of low demand.
And yet, they banned it. High energy consumption is never the reason. It's just the explanation that's presented to the public, among other things. October 23, 2022, 05:03:32 AM
Bottom line is some countries may ban bitcoin mining but it will definitely not be because of "fears of climate change" even if they insist on this being the reason. They will only ban bitcoin mining when they face an energy crisis which Europe and to some extent US are facing it these days which is why we are seeing an increased number of discussions about this matter!
It is worth mentioning that China banned bitcoin mining because they were also facing an energy crisis and it didn't solve a thing considering the fact that China's electricity usage continued growing like before, it didn't even have a small drop!
Because the decision to mine or to not mine is already being handled economically by itself. Banning mining because of facing an energy crisis is virtue signalling at best.It is worth mentioning that China banned bitcoin mining because they were also facing an energy crisis and it didn't solve a thing considering the fact that China's electricity usage continued growing like before, it didn't even have a small drop!
1. It’s already insanity to mine Bitcoin from the grid in Europe with skyrocketing energy prices for both industrial and private consumers, it was unprofitable before and even more now.
2. If energy prices are this high it’s more profitable to give energy to the grid than to mine Bitcoin with it for energy producers.
It’s like a self-regulating system that doesn’t take energy from where it’s too scarce, so bans won’t solve anything again like in china. It’s just another example of the incompetence of central authorities to handle crisis. They rather just use it for blame games against unwanted technologies and use arguments that sound logical on a surface level to fool 90% of people. Taking the most incompetent decisions just to maintain an image of competence to the public. Wasting time on irrelevant to the problem issues, so the public can feel like something is being done, while being distracted from actual solutions to the problem. Almost like they understand psychology really well.
October 23, 2022, 02:40:14 AM
If you are talking about cutting off electricity in winter, it will be for what are considered non-essential services, as for example hospitals must have a continuous supply of electricity.
In the US there are pretty strict regulations about hospitals having back up generators or other sources of power in the event of power outages. Most critical equipment such as ventilators and infusion pumps have their own built in batteries, but for complex power hungry equipment these batteries might only last 30 minutes. Not to mention the chaos of being in the middle of a surgery when all the lights and electrical operating tools stop working. I imagine there would be similar regulations in the EU.But yes, you make a good point. In the scenario of planned power cuts, then governments might start placing limits on what you are and are not allowed to use electricity for. Good luck enforcing that, though.
It is worth mentioning that China banned bitcoin mining because they were also facing an energy crisis and it didn't solve a thing considering the fact that China's electricity usage continued growing like before, it didn't even have a small drop!
It's almost like bitcoin mining is completely inconsequential! Not to mention that in China a large proportion was using excess energy from hydropower which was otherwise being wasted during periods of low demand. 
October 23, 2022, 12:28:01 AM
Bitcoin mining is prohibited because of concerns about climate change, I think it's just their trick to drop bitcoin, they used to say bitcoin is just a useless internet currency and fake internet currency, but after bitcoin proved to be a digital currency the most sought after by all circles now they are trying to slander bitcoin by damaging the environment, critics say the use of bitcoin energy is the main cause of pollution, actually myths like this are not true at all, in fact other industries also use electricity in large quantities very large, to provide their services,
The question is why bitcoin continues to be criticized while other industries have never been criticized?
The question is why bitcoin continues to be criticized while other industries have never been criticized?
October 22, 2022, 11:52:30 PM
Bottom line is some countries may ban bitcoin mining but it will definitely not be because of "fears of climate change" even if they insist on this being the reason. They will only ban bitcoin mining when they face an energy crisis which Europe and to some extent US are facing it these days which is why we are seeing an increased number of discussions about this matter!
It is worth mentioning that China banned bitcoin mining because they were also facing an energy crisis and it didn't solve a thing considering the fact that China's electricity usage continued growing like before, it didn't even have a small drop!
It is worth mentioning that China banned bitcoin mining because they were also facing an energy crisis and it didn't solve a thing considering the fact that China's electricity usage continued growing like before, it didn't even have a small drop!
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October 22, 2022, 10:51:04 PM
Within the interesting debate, I found an essential point missing, which was just mentioned by bbc.reporter and which was discussed yesterday in another thread on the subject.
The desire to cast Bitcoin in a bad light because of the PoW's energy use predated the war in Ukraine and the energy problems that Europe is facing, which not only consist of a huge price increase, but also the prediction of power cuts this winter.
The E.U. is preparing for blackouts this winter, amid an energy crisis
If you are talking about cutting off electricity in winter, it will be for what are considered non-essential services, as for example hospitals must have a continuous supply of electricity.
If the public authorities consider bitcoin mining not only non-essential, but an attack on their power, we know how this is going to end.
1. They might begin to try doing it more quickly not because of climate change, it might be because of concerns on energy shortages.
The desire to cast Bitcoin in a bad light because of the PoW's energy use predated the war in Ukraine and the energy problems that Europe is facing, which not only consist of a huge price increase, but also the prediction of power cuts this winter.
The E.U. is preparing for blackouts this winter, amid an energy crisis
If you are talking about cutting off electricity in winter, it will be for what are considered non-essential services, as for example hospitals must have a continuous supply of electricity.
If the public authorities consider bitcoin mining not only non-essential, but an attack on their power, we know how this is going to end.
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