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I'm not sure whether this is true, but I expect that electricity-from-coal for Bitcoins isn't a massive problem because doing so is simply unprofitable: the ele

I'm not sure whether this is true, but I expect that electricity-from-coal for Bitcoins isn't a massive problem because doing so is simply unprofitable: the electricity costs more than the value of the Bitcoins, so it would be irrational to do. I would expect that mining has become an arbitrage market that narrows in on the cheapest possible electricity anywhere in the world, and as such is dominated by excess "free" electricity from e.g. hydroelectric power that is generating more electricity than can be used (or transported).

rspeer 8y ago
Well, it's not true. Bitcoin has increased the demand for coal power in China. Bitcoin miners flocked to New York State for cheap natural gas power. Green energy is not necessarily the cheapest form of energy. If it were, it wouldn't even be _hard_ to stop burning fossil fuels and prevent climate change.
- keymone 8y ago
  What’s your source? From what I’ve heard bitcoin mining farms in China are located in regions taking pretty much all energy from hydro.
- cjbprime 8y ago
  Here's a NYT article about Bitcoin miners moving to New York State last year, but not for natural gas -- instead to a depressed ex-industrial town that has overprovisioned hydroelectric, as you'd expect: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/nyregion/bitcoin-mining-new-york-electricity.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/nyregion/bitcoin-mining-n... When did miners go to NYS for natural gas power? Are they still there, or did they get undercut by hydro from somewhere else in the world?
- cjbprime 8y ago
  Green energy isn't the cheapest source everywhere in the world, but Bitcoin mining has no geographic restriction. Instead of picking a location and then choosing an energy source once there, as most of us do, they can first pick a green energy source and then choose a location anywhere in the world that provides it. Thus, there's no analogy to the challenge the rest of the world faces in moving away from fossil fuels.
buzzdenver 8y ago
That might be the case in some countries, but in China for example much of the mining is done with stolen electricity, or bribing officials for an unreasonably low rate.
- cachvico 8y ago
  Ironically

rspeer 8y ago

Well, it's not true. Bitcoin has increased the demand for coal power in China. Bitcoin miners flocked to New York State for cheap natural gas power. Green energy is not necessarily the cheapest form of energy. If it were, it wouldn't even be _hard_ to stop burning fossil fuels and prevent climate change.

keymone 8y ago
What’s your source? From what I’ve heard bitcoin mining farms in China are located in regions taking pretty much all energy from hydro.
cjbprime 8y ago
Here's a NYT article about Bitcoin miners moving to New York State last year, but not for natural gas -- instead to a depressed ex-industrial town that has overprovisioned hydroelectric, as you'd expect: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/nyregion/bitcoin-mining-new-york-electricity.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/nyregion/bitcoin-mining-n... When did miners go to NYS for natural gas power? Are they still there, or did they get undercut by hydro from somewhere else in the world?
cjbprime 8y ago
Green energy isn't the cheapest source everywhere in the world, but Bitcoin mining has no geographic restriction. Instead of picking a location and then choosing an energy source once there, as most of us do, they can first pick a green energy source and then choose a location anywhere in the world that provides it. Thus, there's no analogy to the challenge the rest of the world faces in moving away from fossil fuels.

buzzdenver 8y ago

That might be the case in some countries, but in China for example much of the mining is done with stolen electricity, or bribing officials for an unreasonably low rate.

cachvico 8y ago
Ironically