Is Bitcoin Affecting the Environment?

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It is widely known that Bitcoins are very popular, and more people know about them. Then, more Bitcoins will be mined, for example. For more info, follow Bitcoin System.

Moreover, those with a Bitcoin mining machine may cause environmental problems and public health threats such as dioxin emissions and deforestation.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency produced by running specific software. More people are interested in mining Bitcoins by using their personal computers or even buying machines solely for that purpose. However, this process has environmental impacts that are not negligible.

6 bad effects of bitcoin on the climate

1. Energy

Bitcoin mining needs a lot of energy to be done, which causes severe negative impacts on the environment.

For example, each process of Bitcoin mining uses about $150 worth of electricity which means around $15 million per day. So, for instance, there will be a massive release of carbon dioxide if this process is done using coal-generated energy.

2. Environmental problems

Bitcoin mining has some negative impacts on the environment. The main problem is deforestation due to space for data centers used for Bitcoin mining. Moreover, Bitcoin mining emits a lot of heat which is very dangerous for our climate.

3. Server farms

Bitcoin mining requires space and electricity, as mentioned before. For that reason, it forces companies who take part in this activity to build server farms inside closed areas such as abandoned factories or warehouses.

All those places are not designed to carry this kind of equipment, and as a result, they may be contaminated by chemicals such as mercury or lead.

4. Pollution

Servers used for Bitcoin mining comprise several harmful elements such as aluminum, cadmium, and mercury, which can cause air pollution when burned during the recycling process.

5. Deforestation and land consumption

Bitcoin mining activities require a lot of electricity which means that they need to use many power plants. Besides, the process of building data centers for Bitcoin mining requires cutting down trees and digging open-pit mines.

All these operations are harmful to our planet as forests are Earth’s central carbon dioxide absorbers.

6. Waste generation

As you already know, Bitcoin mining servers can be filled with different materials and chemicals such as aluminum and arsenic, which will contaminate the recycling process. Besides, this kind of equipment contains hazardous materials such as high levels of lead and mercury.

Finally, it’s essential to highlight that Bitcoin mining is not regulated by any authority, which means there is a considerable risk of doing something dangerous. For instance, most servers used in Bitcoin mining were built in China, which has a significant industrial base and a lack of environmental rules.

Some benefits of bitcoin on climate change

1. Efficient and innovative

Many people see this process as an efficient and effective way of producing virtual currency. For example, Bitcoin miners get rewarded when adding new transaction records to the blockchain, enabling faster transactions.

In addition, the energy consumption in Bitcoin mining is not constant since it depends on several factors such as the price of Bitcoin, the difficulty level, and global power consumption.

2. Researching new technology

Bitcoin mining serves as a promising research area for finding new technologies to reduce energy consumption. For example, there is an ongoing study about producing more efficient chips to decrease energy costs.

Moreover, some scientists are trying to finish the process of Bitcoin mining using renewable energy. This is because it could reduce power consumption and carbon footprint.

3. New business opportunities

Bitcoin mining operations are very competitive since more than 2000 crypto coins are available on the market. For this reason, some entrepreneurs started companies that specialize in building new data centers worldwide.

For instance, a company named BitFury emerged in 2012, and it works on developing the newest technology to carry out Bitcoin mining operations. Moreover, this company opened its first data center in Gori, Georgia, built using renewable energy.

Conclusion

Bitcoin mining can be very harmful to your planet since it requires lots of energy and generates waste. On the other hand, many people believe that this process efficiently stores transactions using blockchain technology. Besides, Bitcoin miners are encouraged to research new methods to reduce their carbon footprint.