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Not if bitcoin just starts consuming renewable power, causing other use cases to make up the difference in coal power.
by klmadfejno 6y ago
Not if bitcoin just starts consuming renewable power, causing other use cases to make up the difference in coal power.
- nannal 6y agoSounds like there's a fairly simple conclusion we can jump to that solves all the issue of burning fossil fuels.
- klmadfejno 6y agoIf you can solve global energy scarcity I'd be eager to hear it.
- sprash 6y agoBuild orbital rings and put solar panels in space. Can be done with todays technology.
- latchkey 6y agoThe reality is that you can't dictate what power is used. Power on a large scale is extremely hard and expensive to transmit. Comments like this do not consider the larger picture. If you plop a mining farm down next to an existing hydro dam that was previously used for powering aluminum smelting, then that farm is now funding the maintenance of that dam. That dam then can provide power to the surrounding community. It isn't about making up a difference, it is about keeping that dam running. Oh and what's worse for the environment then wasting energy on mining bitcoin? Aluminum smelting. This is exactly what coinmint did at an old Alcoa facility in upstate NY. They are using power that would otherwise go to waste. It is too expensive to build more transmission lines to feed power to people further away. Re-using the Alcoa facility also helps fund its further cleanup from the years of toxic waste produced there. A bunch of drone computers is a perfect use. I'm all for shutting down coal based mining. At this point most large mining operations are not profitable on that anyway and have moved to other sources of power. Disclosure: I am a large very scale ETH miner who uses hydro (but not at coinmint, I'm just very familiar with their facility).
- websites2323 6y agoYour occupation is terrible for the environment and there’s no sleight of hand with localized power sources that will change that. All these dreams of decentralized money will be worth nothing when global warming and the associated chaos kick in.
- latchkey 6y agoI thought this thread from Dan Held was really good: https://twitter.com/danheld/status/1351235080103096331 https://twitter.com/danheld/status/1351235080103096331 It starts off with: "1/ Bitcoin’s energy consumption is not “wasteful.” - It is much more efficient than existing financial systems - No one has the moral authority to tell you what is a good or bad use of energy (ex: watching the Kardashians) Let's debunk this FUD"
- foepys 6y agoHow is it more useful if >6 billion people are using the traditional system and a few hundred thousand, maybe a million are using cryptocurrencies while consuming an amount of electricity equivalent to Denmark? Bitcoin, Ethereum etc. can be spent nearly nowhere except at exchanges because it's a pain in the ass to handle for merchants while I can pay with my Visa in the most countries seamlessly. And how can it "bank the unbanned" when people need to have not only a smartphone but also a stable internet connection to the networks because if I don't observe the blockchain, I am still reliant on intermediates which are called payment processors in the traditional system that already exist. Crypto currencies are just unnecessarily speed running financial history. Carried by ancaps and speculation that are only pushing it because legislation didn't catch up, yet.
- rorykoehler 6y agoDenmark has a population of less than 6 million
- foepys 6y ago