Topic: Jakarta is in a pollution emergency, Is it caused by crypto mining? (Read 463 times)

Jakarta is a very crowd city where so many cars and motorcycles trapped at the road because of traffic jam, people spend a lot of time on their vehicles at the street. i think the pollution are mainly caused by those vehicles, power plant, and wind. crypto mining need electricity but i think it's not significantly contribute to this pollution.

I think it is very unlikely that the cause of the worsening pollution in Jakarta is caused by crypto or bitcoin mining alone. Because even though crypto mining does use very large electrical resources, and it can indeed cause carbon pollution. However, if I look at the activities that occur in the city of Jakarta, the fact is that there are many other things that pollute the environment more and make air pollution in Jakarta very bad. Examples include the large number of motorized vehicles and the large amount of waste originating from factories.

If you look at a global scale, I think that in certain countries crypto mining is indeed very large, such as in the United States, which definitely requires more electricity, and perhaps the pollution it causes will also be greater. So on a large scale, crypto mining can also cause more or less pollution. But for now I think the pollution caused by crypto mining is still minimal compared to other pollution factors.

If done using coal or something like that of course it's part of the problem. At the same time let's not forget that many big cities, especially in Asia, have been dealing with serious pollution problems for tens of years, it's nothing new and sadly things got even worse because now there are more people than ever, and more people means more pollution.

It's not a news, but the conversation on social media where I am involved and denied the opinion.

We live in Indonesia in awry, In the other side we must save and use green energy, but on the other side if we use that green energy like a solar cell, we will face tough rules where must be permitted to PLN (state-owned national company), we can't make the solar cell on my home right away, we have to permit to that company, so if don't have permits, we will be fined with a lot of money. This is insane.

https://dinsights.katadata.co.id/read/2022/10/21/bali-protests-pln-for-restricting-installation-of-rooftop-plts

Other users have already shown the real reasons for the high level of pollution at Jakarta, and if anything this should be a lesson for everyone, no one should trust anything they read on social media as it is full of bots and other people trying to influence popular opinion, personally I would not even engage them and reject their arguments as there are many other things we can do with our life than trying to convince someone with the truth when they know they are lying and they are making a deliberate attempt to spread their lies.

Actually it happens here in us as well, but that is not purely because of crpyto mining. It happens because of the pollution , we need to be aware that pollutants can be seen in different things that are using everyday. It is surely caused by power plants, cars, appliances and crypto mining devices. I just hope that at least we can have a day in a month that we can turn off all our devices so that nature can breathe.

That was a long time ago!
There was a report of Christmas light consuming close to 6TWh but that comes with two big buts:
- funny as it might sound Christmas light consumption has gone down by a ton because of led bulbs
- Bitcoin consumption has only gone up and as long as the daily $  in reward for miners will keep going up so will consumption.


Estimated energy consumption has fallen, not the real one!
The whole drop was caused by their estimating that there are less old-generation models on the market and more highly efficient ones so the actual consumption for the said hash rate would be lower.

But energy efficiency can't really change the overall consumption this is a bit different than one might think:
Case one:
You have an air conditioner that consumers 5kwh, you replace it with one at the same specs that does 3kw, you will consume on average 3/5 of what you previously did.
Case two:
You have there S9s you replace them with an s19xp, you now consume the same amount of electricity but with a higher hashrate so you get more income. Even if everyone switches their gear from older generation to the newer they will not try as a consumer does to keep the same hashrate, they will simply exchange 1MW of gear with 1MW of gear.

No matter how efficient the gear is if the reward spikes by tomorrow to twice as much in a few months' time you will have twice the electricity consumption cause miners will do everything to get a larger chunk of that reward.

CO2 greenhouse gas is what causes air pollution in Jakarta to become crazy, CO2 which is produced from the process of burning coconut charcoal to make briquettes is indeed fatal, so when you hear the news that bitcoin miners are the cause of air pollution in Jakarta it is just slander.
Based on scattered data, the number of vehicles in Jakarta last year reached 11 million 800 thousand and there is a possibility that the number will increase this year, so the most obvious fact is that the cause of Jakarta's pollution is due to combustion produced by vehicles, factories, power plants and briquettes combustion, not bitcoin mining.

Can you please share any source of the news where it says crypto mining is causing pollution? I am just curious to read how cryptocurrency mining could pollute nature. As far as I know, crypto mining consumes energy, of course, but how could it directly pollute? Energy sources would pollute the environment, but whether you mine crypto or not, power sources will still generate power and pollute the environment. We can't blame cryptocurrency mining for the pollution.

So that's your problem, coal burning. Is this power subsidized? then that's your other problem. Artificially cheap power makes the more expensive coal power generation attractive. Mining Bitcoin or soldering steel doesn't matter. Don't blame the customer.

Local media is not a place to get the news for sure, it's a lot more important to get it with proof on social media. Of course the downside for both of them would be getting to the bottom of the source and proof, because if someone says "X happened today", then you do not know if you should trust them or not, but if you look for the source and find proof that indeed X happened, then you could feel better and online is the way to go, because local media doesn't have a source for you to look into, but online does.

This is true even for wikipedia, there could be something wrong in wikipedia too, it's just people and nothing more, which is why I think it should be quite important to make it work somehow and find the source.

Pollution already exist since human existed in this world.

People are just blaming cryptocurrency mining because bitcoin miners are earning a lot of money while those envious people do not. Well, this should be expected since that's the only thing they can do, maybe they are hoping that the government will stop bitcoin mining if they are going to put it in a hot spot by continuously blaming it for pollution and too much energy usage.

I think @mk4 is referring to an old story in which the consumption of electricity in the context of Christmas lights in the US was mentioned again in relation to the total consumption of electricity in some other countries in a period of 1 year. In other words, more energy is spent on Christmas lights in the US than a country like El Salvador spends for the whole year.

In addition, it was calculated that all electrical devices in the US consume more energy only in standby mode than Bitcoin consumes for a whole year.

Bitcoin Mining Wasteful? Christmas Lights Use More Energy Than Some Countries


A lot of energy in relation to who or what? A new report says that energy consumption has fallen even more compared to last year, which means that mining devices are becoming more efficient. If you take into account that at least 50% of the energy that miners use comes from renewable sources and that the annual losses in the electrical grid are as much as 50 000 TWh, then can we translate a number between 100 and 150 TWh as "a lot of energy"?

Most of the electricity used for Bitcoin mining comes from fossil fuels. This activity is most prevalent in China and is growing in countries that can provide cheap and stable energy supplies. That's why Iran and Kazakhstan are popular areas. As in most South Asian countries, most of their electricity comes from dirty sources such as coal fired plants and natural gas. The proliferation of clean renewable energy will naturally reduce the negative impact of crypto mining. Bitcoin mining in underdeveloped countries may have an impact on the climate but i don't think Bitcoin is at a level that could cause a climate crisis.

I'm from Indonesia and I don't find the news that this is caused by bitcoin mining because the main reason when Jakarta is a pollution emergency is as you said before because of the steam power plant besides that, the surge in the increase in vehicles entering Indonesia especially Jakarta is very large which makes pollution in Jakarta and its surroundings dangerous even currently ranked 1 for the most polluted city in Southeast Asia.

On the other hand, I have also discussed this in the local Indonesian section Jakarta Darurat Polusi and there have been several responses which I think are quite good for discussion.

Big companies are exactly doing more harm to the environment than BTC mining could. Jakarta is also a business hub and capital, with more automobile emitting CO2, along with the processes involved in getting coal. Its not as if the place is sparcely populated in the first place, to think that it could efficiently mine BTC.
A miner may be limited in movement and has alternatives to energy sources, but what may be questionable is the emissions that is produce from the source of the energy, powering the mining process and not the mining of BTC itself.

I have never heard from the news that pollution occurs because of the Bitcoin or crypto mining industry.
In fact, as far as I know, there are no bitcoin/crypto mining companies in Indonesia, all mining is done individually so the scale is very small.
Saying pollution in Jakarta is due to bitcoin mining is a black campaign against Bitcoin.
The government has stated that it is because of emissions from motorized vehicles that it has started implementing work from home for several institutions, and also one of the causes is the housing industry making charcoal briquettes from wood and some of these industries has been close by the authority, and drought is also one of the causes.
Source use machine translation to understand it.

Wait? How come Christmas lights are using more energy than crypto mining? That's hard to believe because those lights only work in December period, that's when the world will want to celebrate Christmas and start putting up the Christmas lights.

Crypto mining on the other hands work every blessed day, this is the only way miners get their ROI back, so I am quite lost about your point @MK4, can you please explain better?

I'm not going to pretend as if Bitcoin mining isn't the most energy consuming of them all, a single Asic miner use over 3000 watts of power, that's like using 5-6 GPU for mining Ethereum back in the days, crypto mining in general uses a lot of energy.

When I read news about crypto mining polluting nature, I think there are many things they need to look at other than crypto mining. But since those who make these news do not report that big companies are killing nature, these news do not make much sense to me.

Big companies have been polluting clean water for years. The media doesn't report it. Now they come and say that Bitcoin mining pollutes nature. Meaningless.

Although crypto-mining uses a lot of energy, its unlikely to pollute Jakarta. Crypto-mining has a more complex environmental impact. Your skepticism is understandable, especially since crypto-mining isnt one of Jakarta's top pollution sources.

However, crypto-mining has been criticized worldwide for its enormous energy usage, especially when fueled by coal. By researching sustainable energy sources, the crypto community is addressing this legitimate problem. Attributing Jakarta's pollution on crypto-mining is unlikely. First, we should address the sources, such coal-fired power plants, then discuss how crypto-mining could become greener.

Maybe yes, but I don't think the cause of high pollution in Jakarta is crypto mining and I didn't find that news either.
And there are several causes of increasing pollution in Jakarta and the most striking of them is the PLTU (Steam Power Plant) around Jakarta, the smoke caused by the large number of vehicles, especially motorized vehicles. And also because the dry season means there is no rain, so smoke and dust will stay in the air longer before being carried by the wind to other places.
And perhaps this kind of situation is exploited or connected by people who are not happy with ktipto, because its popularity continues to grow so that they are looking for ways to take it down.

Was there a study provided that crypto-mining in Indonesia is one of the leading causes of pollution in the country? I am pretty sure the only reason they thought that crypto-mining was one of the reasons why the pollution is bad in the country is because of the studies that were done on other countries.

Well for sure the one posted it is a Bitcoin hater as they find negative sources that could connect to Bitcoin. I mean there's a lot of things that we could consider that might causes the pollution for example vehicles run by gas, non-eco friendly energy sources and a lot more. And also I believe that most of the crypto miner has a safe facility that could help like solar panel. Pollution is actually a big deal to most countries not only in Jakarta and I agree that there's a lot of factory that didn't meet a safety procedure and too hazardous wastes, it's like blaming someone's crime to anyone.

Indonesian here, though I am not currently living in Jakarta, but I have been following the news and I might know more, and I can confirm that it's not related to crypto mining. It is true that mainly the pollution was caused by the the Coal Power Plant, it's proven with the shut-down of several power plant because of the 43rd ASEAN Summit, so this ASEAN Ambassador won't experience the pollution.

As far as I know, the history goes back several years ago when a scheduled blackout are still happening in Indonesia and then the government creating a 35,000 MegaWatt Program, to achieve that until now the Government has created 415 new Power Plant, some of them are Coal based, which has high pollution, and around in Jakarta, there are at least 14 Coal Power Plant in 100km radius.

So nothing related to crypto mining, or crypto.

Jakarta is a pollution emergency but it has nothing to do with crypto mining. Although crypto mining in Indonesia is not like other countries, crypto work is possible in the online world. Pollution is usually industrial fumes explosions of radioactive materials harmful household wastes use of pesticides in agriculture etc. Air quality also worsens in the greater Jakarta area because it is affected by dry air from the east of the country use of motorized vehicles is also a major factor. According to data from the ministry of environment and forests 44% of air pollution comes from transport compared to 31% from industry.

Lol! These are just propaganda. It will be better if you can stay out of such things. Indonesia was never much favorable towards crypto mining and if I am not wrong, they do not have much mining facilities either. So when someone say such loose words, there's some vested interest for sure!

Crypto mining surely causes pollution but that is quite less when compared to other industries and thermal power plants. Why blame crypto mining alone!

I will never believe in some local media that sometimes they only seek attention and increase their existence by presenting some news that is only based on the "assumptions" of some people who are not even experts and without detailed, concrete and accountable evidentiary data.
I don't think crypto mining is the main problem that causes air pollution in Jakarta, from the media you've read they most likely don't provide accurate and complete data, right?. If you are someone who lives in Jakarta, surely you will understand that Jakarta is too crowded and there are too many private vehicles and many industries that contribute to air pollution. Carbon emissions from private vehicles and transportation, several large industries and the burning of coal as a source of electricity generation are the causes that contribute most to air pollution there.

It seems so, when I research his name and find his activity on social media, in fact, the man who threw the discourse is a crypto hater. he lost hundreds of millions because invested in crypto, because he is a beginner and only follows the hype.


It's just government politics (corporate and government), Pollution in Indonesia has existed for a long time and often occurs during the dry season like today. (smoke due to forest fires)

So why now exited?,
Because corporations and governments are actively promoting electric vehicles. They even provide subsidies for this mega project, This dry season is the right moment to sell your product (electric vehicles).

Why would they only blame it on crypto mining? Is this the only one industry running on that country?.

For sure there's a lot of factors on why pollution happens and the main cause is negligence of people towards proper disposal of their waste,factories,transportation and other more. For sure there's only few people do crypto mining and it does not create big effect to environment. Maybe those people saying things like that is ignorant on the information they reads that's why maybe they always come up with wrong conclusions.

I was about to say it was the people that polluted Jakarta.  I wonder if there is a huge mining farm in Jakarta Indonesia since as far as I can see on the internet, the electrical cost in that place can render the mining industry in negative ROI unless the mining farm is using its own renewable energy, the mining farm is bound to bankruptcy.

Everytime there is cheap labor or poor country, they end like this. Not because of crypto per ce (especially since there are more and more Proof of Stake coins), but because of corporations' greed  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why bother with nature when you're making profits?

So yeah, crypto doesn't pollute - people do

They are just diverting those things and make it look that crypto mining is the culprit. If those words are just been thrown out by some citizens who doesnt even know on what crypto mining is then they are just really trying out to mix things up and putting up all the blame on something which isnt really the actual cause. We know about those coal plants usage which it isnt really just solely for crypto mining but also in other usage or relevance as well which it isnt really just that right that everything could really be just simply blame out on crypto mining. Seems like they dont really like crypto existence as well? throwing up some issues without able to solidly provide those evidences that this was the main culprit.

I have seen this one
Indonesia has responded by sanctioning 11 industrial firms for failing to meet operational standards and ordered half its civil servants to work from home.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/09/07/world/asia-oceania/indonesia-cuts-coal-plants-output-as-pollution-spikes/1908879

So it was talking about failure on meeting that operational standards.

Lol, pollution isn't cost by one industry alone.  Bitcoin mining only constitutes to small fraction of the total pollution of all industries.  In fact Bitcoin mining pollution emission cannot be compared to the pollution produced by many industries.  I don't think the person talking about crypto-mining is majorly caused by crypto mining because it has been debunked by many studies such as the one done by University of Cambridge just like what is stated in this article: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2023/bitcoin-electricity-consumption/ and is also supported by the following thread:

Cambridge University Shatters Bitcoin Energy Myths
Debunking the "Bitcoin is an environmental disaster" argument

The problem is not the method of energy consumption nor the consuming electrical device itself. The problem is very clearly that the energy is generated using coal as fuel. This is very cheap and very energy-rich. Jakarta should be investing more money into other, cleaner ways to generate electrical power. Other countries have done so effectively. But I am guessing that Jakarta might not have the financial means to do this. Perhaps too much money is landing in the pockets of politicians instead?

Save a penny, make a penny.

Hi Blue Snow,

First, with that nick it seems that the issue of pollution may be intrinsic to you, although that is speculation, and in a certain way it happens for your specific issue.

It cannot be hidden that mining is included in the equation, although its energy consumption is high, at least it cannot be indicated that it is the main provocative axis of electricity consumption, many of the traditional polluting entities have made the gaze be fixed in bitcoin, because it is indeed a reality, but it is also true that it offers better possibilities for the use of green energy, even most than any of the traditional polluting entities.

So, in your country like any other there is that attitude of prioritizing a claim to a new technology as the cause when it is only part of the problem, not the whole.

The attribution of bad pollution that befell the Indonesian capital to electricity cannot be fully justified even though the government, through its staff, has confirmed that the two main causes of air pollution that threaten the health of the surrounding community are motorized vehicles and electricity.
The consequences of motorized vehicles can be accepted as one of the causes, but the causes due to crypto mining should be refuted because the government is very focused on motorized vehicles that use electricity.

Logically, the number of parties using crypto mining is not that large compared to large companies that require higher electrical power every day.
I also don't mean to blame the government, but the government's efforts regarding electric vehicles have been highlighted by activists outside Indonesia regarding plans to minimize electricity saving.

Perhaps, these accusations come from those who hate bitcoin and who hate crypto mining activities.

The one who made that allegation provided any proof for their claim which is the power produced in the plants is mostly used by crypto mining and related equipment.

Already we have threads like Cambridge University Shatters Bitcoin Energy Myths which simply means the energy used by crypto mining is not even in the considerable amount as government claims so it is just a cover-up story by the government who can't address the situation put the blame on bitcoin.

But as many of the others said bitcoin mining in Indonesia is not much so its pretty convincing that its nothing but a false claim.

Air pollution is a big deal because it's not only uncomfortable but also harmful and even deadly to some people. Coal burning on power plants certainly seems among the main reasons, and that's something that Indonesia needs to reduce significantly. It's harmful to the environment, and it's having a direct negative impact on the well-being of citizens.
That being said, is crypto mining truly a big thing in Indonesia? I see others are also voicing their doubts about that.
In any case, the problem is with coal being the source of energy, not with crypto mining.

It's probably just cryptocurrency hater. Electricity price in Indonesia[1] isn't low/attractive for miners, unless they manage to obtain recent type of Bitcoin ASIC. Besides, AFAIK there's no data which shows many miners comes from Indonesian (let alone Jakarta).


No, the actual problem is how the electricity is generated.

[1] https://www.mrfixitbali.com/electrical/electricity-supply/electricity-cost-Indonesia-240.html

Well, I think you already answered your own question, since 2016 I joined crypto, this is probably the first time I am reading about cryptocurrency(Bitcoin specifically) mining and Jakarta, Indonesia together, both on this forum and outside the forum.

I personally think Indonesia is not such a big market when it comes to crypto mining, they do not have as much candidates in this field to warrant them going through a pollution crises .,

So I personally think that the cause of this might be what you suggested at first which is steam power plant where the coals are tuned to fuel.

Anyone who gives the opinion that the cause of Jakarta's air pollution is bitcoin mining deserves to be met in a public debate room ^{(surely they just talk without data)}.  afaik, Jakarta is not a city that has many miners, only a small number of crypto creators become miners there, based on the news i read through international news, the cause of Jakarta's pollution is because of motorized vehicles and factories that produce high carbon dioxide gas.  i'm sure it's the greenpeace loyalists who keep causing the FUD about bitcoin.

Bitcoin mining is not bad for the environment. Unlike traditional mining bitcoin mining does not involve extracting resources from the earth. It relies on solving complex mathematical puzzles using computer power Many bitcoin miners are shifting towards renewable energy sources like solar and wind power reducing their carbon footprint. Bitcoin mining incentivises the development of clean energy infrastructure as miners seek cheaper and more sustainable energy solutions. It’s a common misconception but bitcoin mining is not bad for the environment, it’s mostly FUD by fiat heads & paid actors.

What a great timing from pollution activist who are blaming the crypto mining as the factor to cause pollution in Indonesia.

So what they were using a decade ago? Solar energy and wind power to power up their cities? That’s funny allegation because pollution doesn’t happen overnight. I highly doubt there are enough mining industries in Jakarta that can actually cause concerning pollution in the area. So many things just does not add up in the given statement. They better triple check how did that happen. May be someone turned on the oven and left the door open. 

Well I think everyone knows about this too, because Jakarta is a very densely populated city, there are many activities there such as many factories that dispose of waste carelessly, the amount of development there that is not uncommon to find in the big city and especially the traffic. You could say that Jakarta is the busiest city in terms of traffic. Oh yes, especially now that there is a long dry season, it causes the growth of plants or large trees at several points to be clearly disturbed, and there is no more air filtering tool except greening.

So therefore in my opinion it is not strange if Jakarta experiences pollution like this because previously it was also frequent, the point is that many factors are the cause.

Pollution is one health hazard that is affecting the WORLD. However you didn't specify the kind of pollution you guys are experiencing If it's, carbon emissions, noise pollution or gas direct emission.

However I still don't believe whatever pollution you guys are experiencing is caused by crypto mining, because the capacity of the crypto mine in Jakarta is not that huge to prompt that kind of pollution you are describing.

It is not truly real reasons. There are many contributors to air pollution like smoke from vehicles, farming activities when they burn grass seasonally and other things. If saying the air in Jakarta is polluted only or mainly by cryptocurrency mining, it is a damn lie.

In addition, cryptocurrency mining is not a biggest industry in Jakarta and it does not exhaust enough to cause air pollution.

Empirical evidence shows that air quality changes during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Jakarta, Indonesia are due to seasonal variation, not restricted movements

This 2022 research is becoming old but it was a research about the carbon dioxide that bitcoin mining is contributing to the environment:

The bitcoin mining network, energy and carbon impact

This was the conclusion:

This is absolutely correct. But we have not even mentioned the mining industries, manufacturing industries, deforestation, bush burning, emission of other pollutants that can result to global warming and many more.

When this is all about pollution then i don't know what exactly they are referring to as the main pollutants in this case, crypto mining is environmentally friendly, bitcoin that uses PoW is not harmful to the environment or releasing toxics unlike the other centralized forms of natural resources mining that causes a lot of environment pollution, I don't want to believe they are aiming at bitcoin mining as the major cause to this, there are other human activities that constitute the current disaster we face in the environment, maybe their assumption may be that crypto includes in the disasters.

Bitcoin consumption of electricity does not exceed the consumption of 3% of global electricity, and if we say that the generation of electricity is the first cause of emissions, the effect of bitcoin is 3%, and bitcoin mining does not produce only waste of damaged and used devices and is completely different from industries such as cooling, cars, oil Percolated derivatives that release greenhouse gases. Articles that indicate the bitcoin link to environmental conditions depend on inaccurate sources, and there are often other reasons for such allegations more than facts.

It's gotta be more than just vehicles though that are causing all of those emissions. Anything that is powered by diesel (common fuel source for non-auto things) is also going to make a lot of pollution as well, and that's going to have to be mitigated. We can see that there are other cities where the vehicle use is similar to Jakarta, but they don't have a pollution emergency right now.

Indeed, there is a lot of news about air pollution in Jakarta. In my opinion, the main cause of Jakarta's air pollution is vehicles, because there are lots of vehicles passing through Jakarta, so in my opinion the main cause is vehicles. because in my opinion, of course, more people use vehicles compared to people who mine bitcoins.

I hope the air in Jakarta will be clean again soon.

This is hear say with no proof or reasoning to support it and you should not help spread such ideas that projects mining as an environmental crisis wen it is not even top ten on the list of reasons why there is pollution in every country.

- Jay -

They came up with another reason to blame mining for everything. And what? Such a thing is, in principle, quite expected. Well, the authorities do not like to see the fact that there is an alternative payment system that is supported in their country in the form of mining coins.
They don't come up with that either. There have been so many similar examples, but they still can’t really prove anything to this day. In power, probably, itching at the fifth point))

I think that the authorities take advantage of this to blame what is in their interest. It could be the private vehicle or bitcoin mining, but in this case it seems that vehicles are the main cause of the problem, so let them not tell us lies about bitcoin mining. It would have to be seen how much mining contributes to pollution as a percentage. I bet it is less than coal combustion.

There's no Indonesia in this list, it means Bitcoin mining in Indonesia is small and the effect is less to nothing.


https://www.techopedia.com/bitcoin-mining-and-energy-statistics

Even your local social media say the air pollution caused by Bitcoin mining, you need to made a research and don't blindly trust what they say. It's nothing surprise the media is pro to the government since Bitcoin is decentralized and they can't control it completely.

"Air pollution in Jakarta has hit such dire levels recently that the Indonesian capital has been named the most polluted city on Earth. Both the city and national governments blame vehicle emissions for the problem, yet deny that the more than a dozen coal-fired power plants ringing the city are a factor."

Source : https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/jakarta-snags-most-polluted-title-as-air-quality-plunges-and-officials-dither/

It is estimated that about half of Jakarta's air pollution is caused by vehicular emissions, and coal combustion contributed only about 14% of the air pollution.

So, No.... let's not blame everything that goes wrong on "Bitcoin" 

Crypto mining? I'm not aware that Indonesia is in the business of mining, I might be wrong though. But I doubt that it's one cause of pollution in the city. Maybe it has become so over crowded and then there are so many cars in that country as well?

In any case, I doubt that crypto mining will contribute to the pollution or even harm the environment. There are a lot of studies already out there debunking this theory by anti-bitcoin groups.

If we're talking about pollution, there are LOTS of things to worry about than bitcoin/cryptocurrency mining. Yes, bitcoin/cryptocurrency mining does use energy, but so does your computer, your car, your home heater or air conditioner, the list goes on and on.

Even Christmas lights are provenly using more energy than crypto mining if I remember correctly.

Indonesia, especially Jakarta is in a pollution emergency, Many say that this is caused by steam power plants where the fuel is coal. And, sadly I heard also on my social media local that this pollution is also caused by crypto-mining, I debated and rejected it opinion because crypto-mining in Indonesia is not much like other countries where their air is still clean today.

So what do you though, is crypto mining become a big problem of pollution?