The Bitcoin Footprint: how bad can it really be?

Steemians,

I will preface my research and analysis with a real-time anecdote, but if you want to dive right into the controversy skip the first paragraph.

As I sit in a plane right now that just took off from Langkawi International Airport, I have a breathtaking view in front of me of the Andaman sea, white sandy beaches, and luscious green mountains; however, this spectacular view is just a mirage to those who have an appreciation for the Ocean. As some of you may know, the global coral reefs are dying from oxidation bleaching at an unprecedented rate. Now, I am not going to write from an environmentalist’s point of view because that is just not who I am, but as someone who loves to dive and surf, I have witnessed the impact of coral death the world’s oceans and seas. To such a large extent that after speaking with Langkawi locals on where they believe is a great place to dive, I was constantly told the response that “all of our coral here has died and soon the fish population will go with it” quite a depressing sentiment to here when just 10 years ago the waters were flourishing with aquatic abundance. If you decided to read the first paragraph, you may be thinking to yourself, that is sad and unfortunate but how is that relevant to Bitcoin and my personal investment and interest in it Bitcoin, so let me share with you what I have found.

The Bitcoin mining industry has exponentially grown over the last year as a result of the cryptocurrency’s spike in price. According to various sources, the revenue generated by the Bitcoin mining industry was roughly $700 million in January 2017 but has grown to over $8 billion in the past month as the cryptocurrency soared in price from around $1500 in August of 2017 to $15,500 as of yesterday afternoon, a factor larger than 11x. That sounds great for Bitcoin miners and investors, right? Theoretically, ​it is great for investors, and I myself cannot complain because it is generating a profit and catalyzing global interest but that comes at​ a great cost, our plane, ​ and its ecosystem. In order to mine a bitcoin an individual has to setup and maintain a running rig or system and in most cases, ​one rig is not enough to achieve substantial results. As of last week, roughly 77KWh of energy was expanded per bitcoin transaction, which puts us on track to expand 32.56 TWh of energy this year. How much is 32.56 TWh of energy you ask? Well, let me put it to you this way, with 32.56 TWh of energy, one could power 2.8 million households. As it is today, Bitcoin mining is using more energy than the entire country of Ireland and is on par with Denmark’s energy usage.

Now the problem with expanding this much energy is three-pronged. Firstly, the exponential rate of Bitcoin’s growth will lead to further energy consumption that is unsustainable. It is projected that if Bitcoin continues to grow on its current trajectory, accounting for corrections, mining will require more energy than is produced by the planet today by the year 2020. Speaking from a pragmatic perspective, I do not believe that it can continue its sustained growth rates and at some point, it is possible that joint government intervention occurs to attempt to regulate the currency. Whether that regulation is successful, I nor anyone else can predict and any analysis would be speculative at best and there is always the existence of underground communities but the moral is that the energy would not be non-existent. Secondly, if Bitcoin mining was able to require more energy output than could be feasibly produced, there would obviously be an issue for the currency but more importantly the cumulative environmental impact to reach that point would be beyond disastrous and completely irreparable. Today, we are facing a global climate issue where the Earth’s temperatures have risen 1-2 degrees Celsius as a result of carbon pollution increasing from 350ppm, which is considered to be a sustainable level, to over 400ppm and on the path to breaking​ 450ppm. What does that mean to our oceans? Every degree above the normalized levels the Ocean levels begin to rise not because of polar ice cap melting but because of the ice sheets melting. Moreover, the rise in temperatures have severe effects on the biodiversity of the ocean. Ocean coral is unable to sustain such temperatures and begins to bleach, which can be clearly seen by the mortality of over 22% of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef. If Bitcoin mining was to continue to grow at its current levels, then it’s output would overtake all other methods of greenhouse gas productions. Yes, I am aware that renewable energy sources are being used in some instances to sustain Bitcoin mining farms but not to a large enough scale. Lastly, if would the world really be ready to give up other energy facets to sustain mining, probably not and that would lead to the network being negatively affected and possibly damaging investors.

To wrap up, I wanted to share my thoughts on an interesting article I read on Motherboard by Christopher Malmo about a cryptocurrency farm that is powering their rigs by burning old tires. By doing so they have found a way to lower their electricity costs to near zero because the tires are recycled from old plants and sold at little to no cost. Further, while it may sound hazardous to burn a rubber tire, it would be more detrimental to the environment to leave it in a landfill because of the corrosive natures of its decomposition. So, while this is not a great solution because it leads to greenhouse gasses being instantly produced when the tires burn and damaging the environment, the silver lining is that its better than letting the tires sit there in the long run I guess.

Here’s a picture of the Andaman sunset with a me in the distance, unfortunately my GoPro was stolen when I was surfing a month ago, so I could not take pictures of the dead coral:

Thanks for taking the time, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Resteem, upvote, and folllow <3

Best,
Ladida
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