Bitcoin network’s carbon emission jumped 17% after China ban: Report

Bitcoin community’s proof-of-work mining consensus has been a subject of evironmental, social and governance (ESG) debates for a very long time and a brand new study could solely add to the rising controversy round BTC’s carbon footprint.

A brand new analysis report titled “Revisiting Bitcoin’s carbon footprint” revealed within the peer-reviewed scientific journal Joules has highlighted that the Chinese crypto mining ban may not have contributed to the discount within the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin community as propagated by many Bitcoiners, quite the opposite, it has elevated by 17%.

China was the first hub for Bitcoin miners earlier than Could 2021 and accounted for greater than 60% of the overall Bitcoin community hashpower. Nonetheless, the blanket ban imposed by the federal government led to the migration of many of the mining farms in another country. China’s BTC mining hashpower share fell from over 60% in Could to close zero in August, with miners transferring to america, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Crypto pundits predicted that the migration of miners out of China wouldn’t solely make BTC mining extra decentralized in addition to greener however, the brand new Joule report reveals in any other case. The brand new analysis report highlighted that the quantity of renewable power used to energy BTC mining has declined from 42% to round 25% since final August.

Associated: Georgia punches well above its weight for Bitcoin mining: Report

The examine tracked the supply of electrical energy powering mining operations to calculate the carbon emissions of the BTC community and located that the highest crypto blockchain emits 65 megatons of carbon dioxide yearly. The examine concluded that miners in China had been extra renewable energy-focused than many of the prime mining nations immediately.

Alex de Vries, one of many authors of the report, advised Cointelegraph:

“The examine usually highlights how Bitcoin mining bought even dirtier after the Chinese language mining crackdown of final 12 months. Numerous the hydropower miners beforehand had entry to right here have now been changed by pure gasoline (within the U.S.). On prime of that, the coal-based electrical energy in Kazakhstan can be dirtier than Chinese language coal-based electrical energy. Altogether, that makes proof of labor mining much more carbon-intensive than it already was.”

The Joule journal examine additional contradicts a report pushed by the Bitcoin Mining Council led by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, which claimed that the Bitcoin community makes use of as much as 66% sustainable power.