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What percentage of mining energy comes from burning fossil fuels?

• matt4077 9y ago
  Transmission losses for sending electrical power across the large diagonal of china is <10%. That's the worst case scenario, because in reality most of China is densely populated and hydroelectric plants weren't build somewhere where they had to wait for bitcoin to come around to find demand for their electricity. Considering hydro power supposedly consumed by mining would be generated no matter what (the costs are largely fixed), almost all the power used by mining is ultimately produced by coal plants, which are the main source for adjustable electrical generation in China.
  • toomim 9y ago
    No, most bitcoin mines are located next to hydroelectric dams in China and the USA. There are no large transmission losses, because you don't need to transmit the power. In the USA, mines are mostly located in 3 counties in central Washington State, along the Columbia river. Power rates there are much cheaper (around 2.5¢/kW), which is the main incentive to put your mine there. Mining on coal is stupid because it's expensive and miners want to make a profit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source
    • matt4077 9y ago
      > here are no large transmission losses, because you don't need to transmit the power. You've misunderstood the argument: "being close to" implies that the electricity would otherwise go to waste. But because transmission losses are low, distances to markets aren't as large as one might believe, and the Chinese weren't stupid enough to build hydroelectric dams in places where the energy would uselessly go to waste, that argument is wrong.