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"Around 60% to 70% of bitcoin is currently mined in China, where more than two-thirds of electricity generation comes from coal. But bitcoin mining facilities a
by incrudible 6y ago
"Around 60% to 70% of bitcoin is currently mined in China, where more than two-thirds of electricity generation comes from coal. But bitcoin mining facilities are concentrated in remote areas of China with rich hydro or wind resources (cheap electricity), with about 80% of Chinese bitcoin mining occurring in hydro-rich Sichuan province. These mining facilities may be absorbing overcapacity in some of these regions, using renewable energy that would otherwise be unused, given difficulties in matching these rich wind and hydro resources with demand centres on the coast."
https://www.iea.org/commentaries/bitcoin-energy-use-mined-the-gap https://www.iea.org/commentaries/bitcoin-energy-use-mined-th...
- tomatotomato37 6y agoAssuming China like most other developed countries has something resembling a unified grid the adjacency of consumption to renewable resources means nothing. Part of that power will still end up comeing from coal, even if it has to take a contrived path through multiple interconnects and load-balancers to do so
- incrudible 6y agoYour assumption is wrong. China is still rolling out long distance high voltage power lines, but even then transmission losses would mean that proximity is advantageous.