Topic: The bitcoin mining network, energy and carbon impact (Read 259 times)
As pointed by forum member Ozero here, one of the underlying reasons why there are people especially those in power or have some form of influence is that Bitcoin has not been a profit producer for them and can even be taking some level of control so it can be worthless to them. There can be a time when there can be a unified fight agonists Bitcoin and its mining but thanks to some countries or territories' that are standing tall to the pressure. Coming soon is the El Salvador entry into Bitcoin mining and they are using geothermal power which mean less problems with environmentally conscious people. Right now, mining hardware is evolving and soon we can have a truly improved mining equipment that are using less energy and of course we have the option of using renewable energy for that matter.
In debates like this one, the people who oppose the high amount of energy consumed by bitcoin miners; are people who don't make use of bitcoin, see bitcoin as a wrong investment scheme, and have lesser knowledge about how bitcoin works. That's why they think that the energy is wasted or doesn't worth it. Despite the high energy consumption equivalent to the annual energy consumed in small countries like Malaysia, the reward or the amount of money being generated by miners is far from near to the disadvantages that may be used against bitcoin regarding energy consumption.
In addition, we see that recently some congressmen and high officials of the European Union are calling for a ban on the mining of cryptocurrencies using the energy-intensive PoW algorithm in light of the fight against greenhouse gas emissions and abrupt climate change. They need to be shown the appearance of such a struggle, and they are not very interested in the real picture of emissions and energy consumption. They will not fight industries that bring them profit, and cryptocurrency for governments is a very inconvenient and hindering financial asset. 
the way some see it is not just a XXtwh/y for 7tx/s
but also XXtwh/y to produce 328125btc a year which is using math in previous posts.. emitting 19M tonne co2
but gold mining produces only 105822oz a year, emitting about 55M tonne co2
yep 3x less 'units' if a gold ounce was compared to a btc but 3x more co2 for gold
but heres a thing.
gold emits 55Mtonne co2 for production of ~106k units of medium
bitcoin emits 19Mtonne co2 for production of ~328k units of medium
but also XXtwh/y to produce 328125btc a year which is using math in previous posts.. emitting 19M tonne co2
but gold mining produces only 105822oz a year, emitting about 55M tonne co2
yep 3x less 'units' if a gold ounce was compared to a btc but 3x more co2 for gold
but heres a thing.
gold emits 55Mtonne co2 for production of ~106k units of medium
bitcoin emits 19Mtonne co2 for production of ~328k units of medium
In debates like this one, the people who oppose the high amount of energy consumed by bitcoin miners; are people who don't make use of bitcoin, see bitcoin as a wrong investment scheme, and have lesser knowledge about how bitcoin works. That's why they think that the energy is wasted or doesn't worth it. Despite the high energy consumption equivalent to the annual energy consumed in small countries like Malaysia, the reward or the amount of money being generated by miners is far from near to the disadvantages that may be used against bitcoin regarding energy consumption.
The argument I hear the most is that if Bitcoin uses xxx TW to process ~7tx/s it's a waste of energy because credit card operators can process over 1k tx per second. People don't get that Bitcoin is not only a payment system. You can actually build secondary layers that will work on top of bitcoin as payment systems. Bitcoin is rather a decentralized validator and a store of value it doesn't have to be an efficient payment system. You don't pay with your gold in store, but you can use your gold as collateral or a proof of funds to get credit in fiat money, get a lease and so on. Trading is also done without the need for blockchain transactions. You can even transfer funds from one person to another without anything appearing in the blockchain, all you have to do is give them the private key and the money changes hands in seconds without any carbon footprint.
People also forget that an ATM or any card terminal uses power on standby. Even if there's 1 transaction a day in some remote gas station in the middle of nowhere, everything is plugged in. When you plug in a miner it doesn't idle, its power is used the whole time.
The problem is that Bitcoin is cheap at the moment. Every time an asset (and that includes bitcoin) falls by 50% it's considered cheap. When it hit 20k for the first time and then fell to 6k people were saying it's not the time to buy because it's going to be cheap one day, (1k) and months later it was back at 14k. IMO we are at the lows right now, if not the exact bottom then very close to it. It's not going to be cheaper and mining is not going to disappear. People were saying that mining is no longer profitable 5 years ago and people who disregarded naysayers and started mining made money and others saw it, which is why hash power as at all time high now.
People also forget that an ATM or any card terminal uses power on standby. Even if there's 1 transaction a day in some remote gas station in the middle of nowhere, everything is plugged in. When you plug in a miner it doesn't idle, its power is used the whole time.
Well, I think this amount of power usage will be reduced when the price of bitcoin is cheap.
The problem is that Bitcoin is cheap at the moment. Every time an asset (and that includes bitcoin) falls by 50% it's considered cheap. When it hit 20k for the first time and then fell to 6k people were saying it's not the time to buy because it's going to be cheap one day, (1k) and months later it was back at 14k. IMO we are at the lows right now, if not the exact bottom then very close to it. It's not going to be cheaper and mining is not going to disappear. People were saying that mining is no longer profitable 5 years ago and people who disregarded naysayers and started mining made money and others saw it, which is why hash power as at all time high now.
According to data from the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources published in August 2018, claims that about 1 percent of total global electrical energy consumption is spent mining Bitcoin.
From this valid evidence, we can compare it, indicating an increase in the possibility of 5 percent.
Meanwhile, according to researchers from Cambridge who released data in 2021, electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin reached 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) in a year. Well, I think this amount of power usage will be reduced when the price of bitcoin is cheap.
From this valid evidence, we can compare it, indicating an increase in the possibility of 5 percent.
Meanwhile, according to researchers from Cambridge who released data in 2021, electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin reached 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) in a year. Well, I think this amount of power usage will be reduced when the price of bitcoin is cheap.
the us senate 2018 report (facepalm)
back then s9 was the main asic and hashrate was 36exa average. which equated to 36twh/y
but the world was producing 27,000twh/y meaning 0.13%
because of more efficient mining. even though the hashrate has increased by 4.8x the electricity has NOT increased by 4.8x
its actually 44.8twh/y which is just 1.2x of 2018 numbers. which is still only 0.166% of world production.
NO WHERE NEAR 5%
According to data from the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources published in August 2018, claims that about 1 percent of total global electrical energy consumption is spent mining Bitcoin.
From this valid evidence, we can compare it, indicating an increase in the possibility of 5 percent.
Meanwhile, according to researchers from Cambridge who released data in 2021, electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin reached 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) in a year. Well, I think this amount of power usage will be reduced when the price of bitcoin is cheap.
From this valid evidence, we can compare it, indicating an increase in the possibility of 5 percent.
Meanwhile, according to researchers from Cambridge who released data in 2021, electricity consumption to mine Bitcoin reached 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) in a year. Well, I think this amount of power usage will be reduced when the price of bitcoin is cheap.
firstly.
the estimates of total power use in many OTHER reports have been somewhat exaggerated. some have been as high as 188twh/y (15.6twh per month)
so doing simple math..
using current gen asics of 110thash for 3.25kw
and the dec average of 173exa
173,300,000/110*3.25=5.12gw/h=
=44.853tw/year (3.737twh/month)
far lower then the silly estimates using very out dated asics which have said 188twh/y(15.6twh/month) over 4.2x more than reasonable math
but with that said. this coinshares report seems more accurate. as its monthly figure is more resembling the 3.737twh/month simple math i used, rather than other reports estimating 15.6twh/month.
coinshare reports 3.338twh/month.. so i applaud their effort
the estimates of total power use in many OTHER reports have been somewhat exaggerated. some have been as high as 188twh/y (15.6twh per month)
so doing simple math..
using current gen asics of 110thash for 3.25kw
and the dec average of 173exa
173,300,000/110*3.25=5.12gw/h=
=44.853tw/year (3.737twh/month)
far lower then the silly estimates using very out dated asics which have said 188twh/y(15.6twh/month) over 4.2x more than reasonable math
but with that said. this coinshares report seems more accurate. as its monthly figure is more resembling the 3.737twh/month simple math i used, rather than other reports estimating 15.6twh/month.
coinshare reports 3.338twh/month.. so i applaud their effort
These are findings by Coinshares about the emissions of CO2 by bitcoin miners. You can get the full report from this link below which is in PDF:
The bitcoin mining network CoinShares research
When I read the method used, I think this is a good research from CoinShares. To make it easy, I quote some important parts of the published paper which can be interesting to you people. If it is true, see what critics have been fighting, that bitcoin mining takes huge amount of energy and produces enormous CO2 which is a greenhouse gasses that can add to global warming and melting of the polar regions. It's all lies, people are just making conclusion of what they do not know. Thanks for organizations that are researching about this. You wouldn't believe the total amount of estimated CO2 bitcoin mining is emitting according to the research. Read further:
Left: Total known power draw off global mining countries (Dec 2021) |||| Right: Total carbon intensity of all global mining countries (Dec 2021): Right
This world is difficult to live in, even people turn back at good things, example is the bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miner uses energy, pay for the electricity they are using, buying miners and generating profit. This is called win-to-win which can help economy as a result of increase in production in a positive feedback manner which is towards the positive side. Only what critics are after is that bitcoin generates greenhouse gas (CO2) but they do not focus on the fact that clean energy (energy without the emission of CO2) can be used for bitcoin mining. There are many aspects of bitcoin that is even helping the economy.
The bitcoin mining network CoinShares research
When I read the method used, I think this is a good research from CoinShares. To make it easy, I quote some important parts of the published paper which can be interesting to you people. If it is true, see what critics have been fighting, that bitcoin mining takes huge amount of energy and produces enormous CO2 which is a greenhouse gasses that can add to global warming and melting of the polar regions. It's all lies, people are just making conclusion of what they do not know. Thanks for organizations that are researching about this. You wouldn't believe the total amount of estimated CO2 bitcoin mining is emitting according to the research. Read further:
Left: Total known power draw off global mining countries (Dec 2021) |||| Right: Total carbon intensity of all global mining countries (Dec 2021): Right
Quote
Network efficiency is a crucial component of any mining model as it is the basis of the estimation of the total network power draw. Getting the network efficiency wrong directly translates into a proportional error size in the power draw estimation.
From the estimate of the total units mining at any given time, we calculate the average efficiency factor of the network. The efficiency factor is the weighted average number of Watts drawn by the entire network per TH/s of hashrate generated (this returns the dimension
of W/TH/s, but an equivalent and more commonly used dimension is J/TH). The average network efficiency is then used to estimate
the ongoing electricity draw of the network from the observable implied hashrate, sourced from the Bitcoin
blockchain itself (via CoinMetrics).
Carbon Calculation Method
We then distribute the total estimated power draw across a number of individual global mining regions, each of which has its own carbon intensity of electricity generation based upon its unique combination of generation sources. Here, we are assuming that the electricity consumption of a mining operation in any given region is responsible for carbon emissions at the average regional intensity of generation. The power draw by region is measured in MW and is estimated month to month.
Once the total carbon emissions of the network are calculated we subtract out the negative CO2 equivalent emissions of flare-mitigating oil field miners
From the estimate of the total units mining at any given time, we calculate the average efficiency factor of the network. The efficiency factor is the weighted average number of Watts drawn by the entire network per TH/s of hashrate generated (this returns the dimension
of W/TH/s, but an equivalent and more commonly used dimension is J/TH). The average network efficiency is then used to estimate
the ongoing electricity draw of the network from the observable implied hashrate, sourced from the Bitcoin
blockchain itself (via CoinMetrics).
Carbon Calculation Method
We then distribute the total estimated power draw across a number of individual global mining regions, each of which has its own carbon intensity of electricity generation based upon its unique combination of generation sources. Here, we are assuming that the electricity consumption of a mining operation in any given region is responsible for carbon emissions at the average regional intensity of generation. The power draw by region is measured in MW and is estimated month to month.
Once the total carbon emissions of the network are calculated we subtract out the negative CO2 equivalent emissions of flare-mitigating oil field miners
Bitcoin's share of global energy Consumption
Quote
Total Power Consumption
From our monthly average efficiency factors and implied hashrate, we estimate that the Bitcoin network drew 75 TWh of electricity in 2020 and 82 TWh in 2021. As of December 2021, the current annualised draw is 89 TWh, which is the second highest monthly estimate
of 2021, the highest being November at 93 TWh. The lowest monthly estimate in 2021 was July, where we
estimate that the annualised draw was 54 TWh.
As a point of reference, total global energy consumption (not production, which is considerably higher) in 2019 has been estimated at 162,194 TWh.35 At an annual energy draw of 89 TWh, the Bitcoin mining network uses approximately 0.05% of the total energy consumed globally. This strikes us as a small cost for a global monetary system, and on the global energy balance sheet, it amounts to a rounding error.
From our monthly average efficiency factors and implied hashrate, we estimate that the Bitcoin network drew 75 TWh of electricity in 2020 and 82 TWh in 2021. As of December 2021, the current annualised draw is 89 TWh, which is the second highest monthly estimate
of 2021, the highest being November at 93 TWh. The lowest monthly estimate in 2021 was July, where we
estimate that the annualised draw was 54 TWh.
As a point of reference, total global energy consumption (not production, which is considerably higher) in 2019 has been estimated at 162,194 TWh.35 At an annual energy draw of 89 TWh, the Bitcoin mining network uses approximately 0.05% of the total energy consumed globally. This strikes us as a small cost for a global monetary system, and on the global energy balance sheet, it amounts to a rounding error.
Quote
Conclusion
In the grand scheme of things, the carbon emissions emitted by electricity providers supplying the Bitcoin mining network are inconsequential. At 0.08 % of global CO2 emissions, removing the entire mining network from global demand—and thereby depriving hundreds of millions of people of their only hope for a fair and accessible form of money—would not amount to anything more than a rounding error.
In the grand scheme of things, the carbon emissions emitted by electricity providers supplying the Bitcoin mining network are inconsequential. At 0.08 % of global CO2 emissions, removing the entire mining network from global demand—and thereby depriving hundreds of millions of people of their only hope for a fair and accessible form of money—would not amount to anything more than a rounding error.
This world is difficult to live in, even people turn back at good things, example is the bitcoin mining. Bitcoin miner uses energy, pay for the electricity they are using, buying miners and generating profit. This is called win-to-win which can help economy as a result of increase in production in a positive feedback manner which is towards the positive side. Only what critics are after is that bitcoin generates greenhouse gas (CO2) but they do not focus on the fact that clean energy (energy without the emission of CO2) can be used for bitcoin mining. There are many aspects of bitcoin that is even helping the economy.
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