Bitcoin Mining and the Environment

Bitcoin Runs on Stranded Energy

• “Bitcoin runs on stranded, excess energy, generated at the edge of the grid, in places where there is no other demand…The world produces more energy than it needs, and approximately a third of this energy is wasted.” [1]
• Bitcoin miners pay 2-3 cents per kWh, whereas major population areas pay 5-10x more.
• Bitcoin uses the least valued, cheapest 0.15% of worldwide energy.

Compared to Other Industries

• “Bitcoin mining is the most efficient, cleanest industrial use of electricity, and is improving its energy efficiency at the fastest rate across any major industry.” [1]
• BMC metrics show ~59.5% of energy for bitcoin mining comes from sustainable sources.

Energy Intensity Relative to Value Secured

• $4-5 billion in electricity is used to power and secure a network worth $420 billion as of Saylor’s writing, and which settles $4 trillion per year. So, the value secured is 100x the cost of the energy input.
• Bitcoin is therefore less energy intensive than Google, Netflix, or Facebook.
• Bitcoin is therefore 1-2 orders of magnitude less energy intensive than airlines, logistics, retail, hospitality, and agriculture.

Bitcoin Carbon Emissions in Perspective

• “99.92% of carbon emissions in the world are due to industrial uses of energy other than bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining is therefore neither the problem nor the solution to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions.” [1]

Bitcoin Environmental Benefits

• Bitcoin mining can be deployed to monetize stranded natural gas or methane gas energy sources, which can be beneficial to the environment. To quote Dan Batten, “If you burn methane that was previously been flared, that is carbon negative. If you burn methane that was previously being vented it is much more carbon negative.”
• “Energy grids that rely primarily on sustainiable power sources like wind, hydro, & solar can be unreliable at times… [pairing them] with a large, flexible electricity consumer like a bitcoin miner [develops] grid resilience and [can finance] the buildout of additional capacity necessary to responsibly power major industrial/population centers.” [1]

Bitcoin and the Developing World

• “…Bitcoin is an instrument of economic empowerment…Bitcoin mining can bring a clean, profitable and modern industry that generates hard currency to a remote location in the developing world, connected only via a satellite link. All that is needed is some excess electricity generated from a waterfall, geothermal source, or miscellaneous excess energy deposit…wherever there is excess energy and anyone with aspirations for a better life.” [1]