{"id":19916,"date":"2019-06-20T17:08:13","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T17:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe7bf0012697"},"modified":"2025-01-27T21:49:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T21:49:19","slug":"op-ed-why-we-shouldnt-worry-about-crypto-mining-energy-consumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/op-ed-why-we-shouldnt-worry-about-crypto-mining-energy-consumption","title":{"rendered":"Op Ed: Why We Shouldn\u2019t Worry About Crypto Mining Energy Consumption"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019ve all heard the surprising statistics about the world\u2019s cryptocurrency mining demands on our energy: It\u2019s on par with the amount of electricity<\/a> Ireland uses in a year. <\/p>\n

I pay special attention to this as the founder of one of the largest crypto mining companies in the world. We\u2019re now 10 years into the crypto era, and the power demands of any developing economy only increase as it matures. The crypto mining industry\u2019s power demands today go to providing proof of work, immutability and consensus in a decentralized network \u2014 it\u2019s the essential three-ingredient cocktail that makes blockchain technology work. <\/p>\n

This industry doesn\u2019t use electricity to post status updates and share memes, but instead to revolutionize the world of money and value exchange. Blockchain technology has good momentum behind it, but it\u2019s still in a developmental stage. It\u2019s comparable to the proliferation of the modern internet: No one knows exactly where it\u2019s headed, so only the best ideas will define its future. <\/p>\n

Crypto mining chips have certainly gotten more efficient each year, but not to the point that they sufficiently push back against any increased electricity use. I\u2019m not worried about crypto\u2019s energy consumption, and I don\u2019t think you should be either. Here are three big reasons why. <\/p>\n

1. The Mining Industry Is Highly Flexible in Where It Can Deploy <\/h3>\n

Crypto mining companies don\u2019t need to deploy near civilization. They don\u2019t need to be confined to any particular place at all. As long as they have electricity and an internet connection, they can conduct business as usual. That means the mining industry will identify places in the world with an excess of natural energy, like wind and solar, then capture it to power their mining efforts. <\/p>\n

2. Energy Usage Isn\u2019t Inherently Bad If It\u2019s Renewable<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s so much energy available in the world thanks to solar, hydropower, geothermal, wind and the like. Crypto mining operators seeking the next level of optimization for their businesses will set up shop in places that offer these resources in abundance, working their electric bill toward zero. At Genesis Mining, for example, we advocate working from colder climates that require far less energy to keep hardware running at an optimal temperature. <\/p>\n

3. Research Suggests Mining Contributes to the Support of Renewable Energy <\/h3>\n

Not only do crypto companies subsidize the adoption of their products when they use renewable energy, but emergent technologies follow a curve<\/a> to become more efficient as they develop. Crypto is no exception. <\/p>\n

Dr. Katrina Kelly-Pitou is an electrical and computer engineering research associate at the University of Pittsburgh. She wrote an article<\/a> contending that the environmentalism cries against Bitcoin and related technologies are a red herring that distracts people from understanding how they actually work. She furthermore connects the dots between alternative energy sources for new technologies and their cost savings for the companies that implement them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am a researcher who studies clean energy technology, specifically the transition toward decarbonized energy systems,\u201d she writes. \u201cNew technologies \u2014 such as data centers, computers and before them trains, planes and automobiles \u2014 are often energy-intensive. Over time, all of these have become more efficient, a natural progression of any technology: Saving energy equates to saving costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, the effort to label crypto mining as wasteful and resource-intensive will only motivate people to make it more environmentally friendly. If it\u2019s got no place to go but up, then that\u2019s where it\u2019s going to go. <\/p>\n

Renewable Energy Sources for Mining Operations Will Become the New Normal <\/h3>\n

It\u2019s clear to me that mining operations that capture their own energy will have a distinct competitive advantage over those that don\u2019t. They invest in some technology up front but enjoy free energy afterward. The business of crypto mining depends on harnessing every conceivable efficiency, so it\u2019s pretty tough to beat a $0 electric bill. That\u2019s why there will be a push to develop environmentally friendly blockchain technologies \u2014 eco-friendliness is a new category of efficiency for these companies to tap. <\/p>\n

Blockchain development is good because it\u2019s going to develop other technologies in parallel. Increased demand for green energy, for example, means there is new business incentive for people to develop a compelling product or solution for sale. NASA developed technologies to help mankind explore space, but created a bunch of new things to improve human life on Earth in the process \u2014 things like LASIK surgery, improved firefighting equipment and even the portable cordless vacuum cleaner. As blockchain proliferation leads us to develop new technologies with it, there\u2019s no telling what kinds of side innovations will spin off into major revolutions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s clear financial incentive for mining operations to reduce their electricity costs, so economics dictates that operators will find ways to pay close to zero for energy. The blockchain space might be the breakthrough motivator we need for the green industry to see its next wave of innovation.<\/p>\n

This is a guest post by Marco Streng, CEO of Genesis Group. Opinions expressed are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or <\/em>Bitcoin Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The crypto mining industry\u2019s energy consumption today go toward providing proof of work, immutability and consensus in a decentralized network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2943,"featured_media":15468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3285,969,2020,3375,1737,1099],"class_list":{"0":"post-19916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-electricity-rates","9":"tag-energy-consumption","10":"tag-genesis-mining","11":"tag-marco-streng","12":"tag-power-consumption","13":"tag-renewable"},"author_data":{"id":2943,"name":"Marcostreng","nicename":"marcostreng","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=robohash&r=g"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/why-we-shouldnt-worry-about-crypto-mining-energy-consumption.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2943"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}