- Cryptocurrency now consumes nearly as much power as a country.
- Experts estimate that the annual electronic trash generated by Bitcoin mining is 37 kilotons.
- Analysts believe that soon, renewable energy will primarily fuel blockchain technology.
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Good article, but it’s not the whole story. Plenty of mining facilities use hydroelectric energy to power their equipment. I think that context needs to be included in any discussion about environmental impact. Not all energy used contributes to the oversized carbon footprint.
Thoughts?
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Is Bitcoin mining is harmful to water resources and animals live in the water?
It’s very probable that the hydroelectric power facilities impact the surrounding environment in other ways than “regular” pollution that we think about when talking about something like coal energy.
But hydroelectricity generation is considered non-polluting. Here’s a good read on what impact things like dams have on the environment.
Do you know which countries these facilities are located?
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Several. Some examples.
Italy
iceland
Costa Rica
US - Washington
Canada - Quebec
US - New York
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Wow. Gotta see those in the US!
it’s irrelevant whether it is powered by renewable or not, if it didn’t exist then coal and gas generators could be turned off and it would be better for the environment.
I will bet you a nickel that the tens of thousands of bank armored trucks used to transport fiat currency have a far greater impact on the environment than Bitcoin
100% agreed, that’s a good comparison! 
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That’s a good point, but Bitcoin doesn’t replace anything, it’s essentially a commodity that’s traded using a fiat currency as an investment. It is hardly accepted as a currency anywhere in the world and despite the relatively tiny amount of transactions, it consumes a huge amount of energy. If it was scaled up to actually be a real currency, then it would use more power than everything else in the world combined.
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True! Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process, and some researchers believe it contributes to pollution, including carbon emissions. The technology is brilliant, but if somehow they are able to change the mining process to something more energy efficient, more people would join and help Bitcoin grow much bigger than what it is today.