By AMY BETH HANSON
Helena, Mont ( Associated Press) – Last year a company that produced “mines” had a convenient location for computers working day and night to verify bitcoin transactions for thousands of energy-thirsty computers: a coal-fired power plant in rural Montana.
But with increasing pressure from the crypto industry to control its environmental impact, Marathon Digital Holdings decided to pack their computers and move them to a wind farm in Texas.
“It simply came to our notice then that we did not want to work on fossil fuels,” said Fred TL, the company’s chief executive.
In the world of bitcoin mining, finding cheap and reliable electricity is everything. But many economists and environmentalists warn that as the digital currency, which is still largely misunderstood, grows – and become popular – the mining process, which is crucial to its survival and value, may become increasingly untenable and unsustainable.
Bitcoin It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that are not controlled by central banks or the government. Although it is not yet widely regarded as a payment method, it has seen its popularity as a speculative investment despite its flexibility. In March 2020, one bitcoin cost more than $ 5,000. That set a record of more than $ 67,000 in November 2021, before falling more than $ 35,000 in January.
The technology of bitcoin technology is the process by which transactions are verified and then registered on a blockchain. The winner of a race to solve complex calculations that verify transactions related to computers connected to the Bitcoin network has received a new product, Bitcoin. Currently, when a machine solves the puzzle, the owner wins 6.25 Bitcoin – worth about $ 260,000. The system is set to release 6.25 bitcoins every 10 minutes.
When Bitcoin was first invented, it was possible to solve the puzzles using a standard home computer, but with the advent of technology, many miners are working on them, making it difficult to solve them. Today, miners use special machines that appear to be more technologically advanced than traditional computers. As more computers join the effort and make puzzles more difficult, the amount of power that computers use to solve puzzles increases.
For example, Marathon Digital currently has about 37,000 miners, but the company estimates that it will have 199,000 by the beginning of next year.
It is difficult to determine how much energy the industry will use because not all mining companies are aware of their use and some jobs are mobile, so they are running low-cost mining in the country.
The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates that bitcoin mining consumed about 109 terawatts of electricity last year – close to the amount used in Virginia by 2020, according to the US Energy Information Center. The current usage rate will be up to 143 TW s per year, or about the amount of use in Ohio or New York by 2020.
The Cambridge estimate does not include other cryptocurrencies for mining.
A few weeks after Tesla Motors said it was buying $ 1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, a major controversy erupted over the use of Bitcoin and said it would accept the digital currency for payments to electric vehicles. He said the energy consumption of the industry and the company will no longer be considered as payment.
Some want the government to get involved.
In New York, Governor Kathy Hohlul is being pressured to restrict air quality licenses for a recycled coal-mining project. A plant that works on natural gas.
A New York state judge has ruled that the project will not affect the air and water of nearby Lake Seneca.
“It is really insane to renew or expand coal and gas plants in the midst of a climate crisis,” said Ivan Taylor, vice president of Lake Seneca.
Prior to the launch of the Anjed Marathon digital with the Montana Environment Information Center, environmental groups expected the Hardin Montana coal mine to be closed.
“It was time to die,” Hedges said. “We were receiving quarterly reports. We were seeing how much they worked. We’ve seen it continue to decline year after year – and last year has completely changed. It would have been non-existent, but for Bitcoin.
The crypto industry “needs to find a way to reduce its energy demand” and needs to be controlled, he said. “That’s all. This is not permanent.
Some say the solution is to switch from job certification to stock certification, which is already used in some cryptocurrencies. With stock certification, digital currency transfer verification is assigned to computers instead of competing. Many individuals or groups with cryptocurrency shares are more likely to get the job done – and the rewards.
Although the method uses very little electricity, some critics argue that the stock blockchain is safer.
Some companies in the industry believe that there is a problem with zero zero emissions – to add no greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. They are signing the Crypto Climate Accord, a Paris climate agreement, out of electricity by 2030.
“All crypto communities must work together urgently to ensure that crypto not only exacerbates global warming but also contributes positively to the critical transition to a low-carbon global economy,” the agreement said.
Marathon Digital is one of the many companies in Texas that are hoping for renewable energy for solar and wind farms. Earlier this month, companies announced that Blockstream Mining and Block, formerly Square, were breaking ground in Texas at a small grid-outside mine using Tesla solar panels and batteries in Texas.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said Adam Buck, chief executive and co-founder of blockchain.
Companies argue that cryptocurrency mining provides economic incentives to build more renewable energy projects and stabilize power networks. Miners provide renewable energy to renewable energy sources so that projects can be financed and generated at full capacity.
The mining companies were able to enter into a low-cost power contract because “all the energy they use could be shut down and returned to the grid immediately,” Till said.
By burning hundreds of tons of coal waste in Pennsylvania’s Stronghold digital, the state’s renewable energy can be used as a grid or used for bitcoin mining.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environment is a partner in the project, which aims to burn coal efficiently and efficiently using relatively new technology. A single pile of charcoal can catch fire and burn for years, releasing greenhouse gases. When it gets wet, the dirty charcoal acid leaks into the local waterways.
The only thing left to generate electricity using coal waste is “toxic fly ash,” said Naomi Harrington, a spokeswoman for Strongwood Digital.
As Marathon Digital gradually pulled 30,000 miners out of Montana, it left behind tens of millions of dollars in mining infrastructure.
The fact that the marathon no longer wants to use charcoal does not mean that it will not be replaced by another Bitcoin. TL said it expects the owners of the power plant to get a company to do so.
“There is no reason not to do so,” he said.
