Topic: Energy consumption will become an issue if bitcoin really breaks through (Read 23459 times)

Energy consumption, in that mining bitcoin today takes a lot of energy, this certainly affects the financial condition.

Renewable energy needs to generate electricity. Electricity is important to continue Bitcoin production. A lot of energy is being used to produce bitcoin. In this case, positive thoughts about the future are shaken. For miners, the price just doesn't matter. Production costs are very diverse.

You might want to start a new thread on it, though.  I'm not sure if all these posts will get deleted because of a necrobump.

You're right, however.  It still is a relevant discussion, although I have to plead ignorance as to how much of an environmental impact bitcoin mining has.  People didn't think burning coal harmed anything many years ago, and now we're paying for it--and all these gas-powered cars, too.

I've gotten into PoS coins somewhat, although bitcoin is my first love in crypto.  At least with PoS, you can help secure the blockchain without having to mine, and it definitely uses less electricity and has got to be better for the environment.  But I'm not sure what to believe these days.

Practically speaking miners can't get high profit due to electricity consumption issue especially individual miners who only got a single computer even 2 of it to mine. I've been seeing a lot of posts saying that they quitted mining due to high high maintenance in electricity bills. I have also read that electricity consumption is one of the reasons why China has been very bad at miners on their country tackling about e-waste it produce that could've been used in other ways. The resolution for this? Find a country that has a low electricity rates to maximize the profit in mining.

I think it will still depend on the value of bitcoin. If bitcoin price is much higher than the cost of energy it consumed to be mined, for sure miners would definitely find a resolution to their major resource.

This is the lamest thing that I have come across today on internet. If governments are really concerned about weather changes and global warming, they shall focus on planting trees and work on projects that help in the purification of air and reduce CFCs in the air. Bitcoin mining is not damaging climate at all as compared to the waste that comes out from ammunition companies and nuclear weapon plants.

All the said things make sense but you should also think that all the growing businesses require energy and every day our demand for energy is also increasing and the energy required by bitcoin Miners isn't that big amount at all. The politicians are making a big deal out of it, they are connecting bitcoin mining with rising climate temperature and also global warming which isn't true at all.

I believe that environmentalists should not care about the ban on Bitcoin, but about the development of alternative energy sources around the world to stop using nuclear power plants and thermal power plants, because people can easily use the energy of the sun, wind and water, while  without throwing harmful substances into the air and without polluting the environment.  For the extraction of Bitcoin, users use only the energy that exists at the moment and nothing more.

With time there is development of more efficient mining machines. This gives increased output with much reduced electricity consumption. Already there were more mining firms that are functioning on the sustainable energy. Governments that are against cryptocurrency state that bitcoin is causing pollution and a global disaster to the environment. Even there big political play is happening in the global arena.

It actually depends on the purpose if that person is actually a miner he should think about the energy consumption since when you are mining a cryptocurrency you need a higher power supply because you need your rigs to be open at all times for you to earn a lot of cryptocurrency. If you have a bigger power supply that won't be a problem but if you dont have and you are just paying it, you must have a better solution for you to earn a lot of cryptocurrency and for your technique to be effective.

What people don't realize is that even tho hashrates are going higher and higher (meaning more miners are used) the closer we get to lightning network type of resolutions. Definitely right now, it takes a lot of hashrate to mine bitcoin but that doesn't mean that it will continue like this.

Remember that in 2017 December there were a lot of clogging and there was a lot of trouble with miners not being able to reach the demand but in last April (of 2019) we broke that transaction record and there was no issues at all, it was still cheap and easy, why? Because of segwit and that is just thanks to segwit, when you put lightning network on top of that there won't be a need for so many miners and energy will be saved from it. It just needs a bit of time to establish itself some more.

The question is not only about the source and price of power but also about protection of environment. Increased electricity consumption is a global issue and threat to our planet and Bitcoin is not excluded. So I think we should look at that from the different angle and try to find sustainable solution.

but while some people think only about society’s money, nature suffers. Most of the problems now are due to the lack of morality in people. Mining should not be uncontrolled. For such an environmentally hazardous activity, you also need to introduce your own rules and gradually transfer the industry to renewable energy. While the government acts radically, they completely forbid this activity. But in everything you can find a balance how to earn and how not to worsen the environment even more

Energy deficiency have huge effect on constantly increasing hash rate. Energy spent increase way slower if at all.


To return to the subject.  If Bitcoin break thought price of energy will increase. Since demand for energy will be higher, it will push price up.

In 2013, when this topic was created, few people knew about the current possibilities of alternative sources of energy production. This is especially true of solar panels, whose production is becoming more economical, efficient and cheaper every year. In my opinion, the problem of electricity production, given the possibility of obtaining direct thermal energy of the sun, should soon disappear altogether. Soon, any mechanisms will be able to feed directly from the sun through the appropriate solar panels. Therefore, I do not see any problems with energy in the future.

It is possible that I am confused. As I understand it, the person wrote that as mining equipment becomes more efficient the total amount of energy consumed by mining will decrease. I disagree, but if that is not what was stated then I apologize for my misinterpretation. However, I believe that I am still correct and my statement that you quoted supports me -- you must agree that the total amount of energy being consumed by mining has not gone down even though the efficiency of the equipment has increased.

The economics of why the amount of energy consumed depends only on the value of the block reward is little difficult to explain. Suppose there are only two miners and their hash rates are the same. Now, suppose one of them installs new equipment that is 10 times more efficient. He could maintain the same hash rate and lower his energy consumption by 90% and increase profit, but he could also raise his hash rate and make even more profit. So he raises his hash rate. In response, the other miner is forced to upgrade his equipment and raise his hash rate in order to compete. Now both miners are raising their hash rates in order to maximize their profits. How much do they raise their hash rates? Each miner raises their hash rate until the marginal cost approaches the marginal revenue, i.e. until the cost of the energy being consumed approaches the value of the block reward. This example shows that the energy being consumed depends on the value of the block reward and not the efficiency.

I agree with you that capital costs are significant, though I don't know to what degree. However, I believe that history shows more support for my assessment.

How do you arrive into this conclusion?  Honestly I see your laid logic broken.  Energy efficiency have a huge effect on the amount of enery used by miners.  You are giving a situation about doubling the number of miners then with the same logic, without the improvement in energy efficiency the amount of energy used by these mining equipment is doubled.  See the huge difference now?



Still considering how efficient the new mining equipment now than way back, it is still a huge difference if you compare the energy consumed at the same hash today than years ago.  The block reward has nothing to do with this. Seems you are confused now.

Well... I don't agree. Here you are making the assumption that electricity costs account for most of the expenses in a mining farm. From what I have heard, that is not the case. Capital costs (purchasing mining rigs, installing them, setting up cooling systems.etc) constitute the largest chunk of expenses. And nowadays the most hi-tech mining rigs can cost you a fortune. And at the same time, the electricity prices have remained very cheap in some of the countries such as Russia and China.

Most of the mining rigs have a limited lifespan. And they need to be replaced after a fixed time period. If the miners don't purchase the newer rigs (with higher hash power), they won't be able to stay afloat. But at the same time, if you purchase a solar power unit, it can work for many years without the need for replacement.

Energy efficiency has no effect on the amount of energy used by miners. The amount of energy used in mining is only related to the value of the block reward and the cost of the energy because of the economic incentives. If mining equipment become twice as efficient, then miners will simply double the amount of equipment.

Consider this: Today's mining equipment is thousands of times more efficient than it was a few years ago, and yet the amount of energy consumed by miners has increased tremendously simply because the value of the block reward has increased (while the cost of energy has been about the same)..