Bitcoin Mining Report Shows Network's Emissions Account for 0.08% of the World's CO2

During the last year, Bitcoin — the cryptocurrency network that leverages proof-of-work (PoW) to process transactions and secure the protocol — has received a lot of criticism about its environmental impact. This week, the cryptocurrency firm Coinshares published a report that shows talking points condemning the network’s electrical consumption have been greatly exaggerated. According to Coinshares’ data, Bitcoin’s mining infrastructure accounts for 0.08% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) production today.

Despite ESG Critics, Studies Show ‘Bitcoin Mining Acts as an Energy Sink’ and Consumes Less Energy Than the Banking Industry

There’s been a lot of disapproval by people who wholeheartedly believe the Bitcoin network is bad for the environment. Many have condemned Bitcoin’s PoW because they believe it requires too much energy to keep the network running strong. Although, the critics never discuss the U.S. dollar’s energy consumption and how it is also enforced by state violence. Detractors also leverage data with extreme bias and inaccuracies stemming from the Digiconomist website. For example, the web portal is operated by Alex de Vries, an employee of De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB).

Despite the fault-finding critics, numerous reports have shown that Bitcoin’s energy consumption is far less than alternative financial systems. In May 2021, Galaxy Digital published a study on the energy consumption of bitcoin mining, and it found it was far less than the energy the gold or banking industry consumes. Galaxy Digital also described how methane emissions are leveraged by companies like Great American Mining, Upstream Data, and Crusoe Energy Systems by turning wasted flare gas into consumable energy. Galaxy Digital’s study notes:

Bitcoin mining is the ideal energy sink: anyone, anywhere, can monetize excess energy by plugging in equipment and switching it off at their convenience. One example of where Bitcoin mining acts as an energy sink is in oil fields, resulting in a direct reduction in methane emissions.

This week Coinshares published its bitcoin mining report, a study that provides the most current data concerning the state of the bitcoin mining industry alongside environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. The Coinshares report estimates the Bitcoin protocol emitted 42 megatons of CO2 in 2021.