https://ift.tt/MvTgmaW47 mining emits 0.08% of global CO2

Bitcoin mining would only emit 0.08% of the CO2 emitted globally by human activities into the atmosphere. 

This is the finding of a recent research by CoinShares, which ended with a report titled “The Bitcoin Mining Network”. 

The CO2 emissions of Bitcoin mining

The 26-page long report focuses precisely on the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining, and the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 

The research reveals that the carbon emissions produced by the electricity suppliers of Bitcoin miners turn out to be insignificant globally, amounting to only 0.08% of all CO2 emissions.

So if it were decided, for example, to ban Bitcoin mining globally to reduce pollution, the real impact on the environment would be almost zero, while instead depriving hundreds of millions of people of “of their only hope for a fair and accessible form of money”.

How mining consumption will change

The research also reveals that although the future energy consumption of Bitcoin mining is unpredictable, as early as 2040 more than 99% of all BTC will have been mined, making the vast majority of the energy consumed serve only to validate transactions. Instead, the bulk of the emissions are now tied to the mining of new BTC, as 900 are minted every day and given away to miners. 

Since mining is a competition where the winner is the one who produces more work (and therefore energy consumption), and since the 900 BTC given as a prize to the miners every day corresponds to almost 33 million dollars, at this time it is inevitable that consumption is high. In the future, however, this dynamic will become less and less relevant. 

In addition, the CO2 emissions of Bitcoin mining are said to have remained substantially stable over the last two years. 

The report also states: 

“Our focus should be on building out renewable power generation, not on stifling the development of monetary technology.

Moreover, the current emission cost must be seen within the context of what the likely future global emissions profile will be in perpetuity, what the market currently requests in terms of monetary technology, and what benefits Bitcoin already provides its users. When analysed over the long term and in proper context, we believe that the emission costs of Bitcoin are dwarfed by its benefits”.