In a recent study by the United Nations (UN), Bitcoin is accused of being a source of environmental pollution.
In a recently published study, the UN strongly attacked Bitcoin for alleged environmental pollution characteristics. The work accuses the main cryptocurrency of being a polluting threat with great impact on the climate, water and land. Although the accusation of digital currency contamination is debatable, detractors consider it a fait accompli. Consequently, it is the main focus of problems facing the asset, particularly in the digital mining sector.
The report places special emphasis on this last point. It stands out that mining activity is one of those with the highest speed of change towards renewable energies. With this episode, the cyclical narrative that tries to stop the adoption of the pioneering cryptocurrency could be reborn.
The UN Does Not Show Greater Sympathy for Bitcoin
The aforementioned report that harshly attacked Bitcoin was created by the UN Earth’s Future University. It does not contain major concessions to the cryptocurrency, while repeating the narrative of the detractors.
For example, the report compares the rise of Bitcoin to the gold rush, which generated uncontrolled mining exploitation. The rise of the cryptocurrency market is comparable to the gold rush. However, this exciting market has a hidden dark side. “Cryptocurrency mining can have significant environmental impacts on climate, water and land,” they point out.
The work focuses on the study of some 76 Bitcoin mining nations between 2021 and 2022. At that time, the currency’s network consumed 173.42 terawatt hours of energy. The result of this in emissions would be 84 billion pounds of carbon sent into the atmosphere.
On the other hand, the study highlights the strong dependence of digital mining on energy generated by fossil fuel. In this case, coal would occupy 45% and gas 21%. Meanwhile, energy from renewable sources, such as hydroelectricity, would have only 16%. 9% would have its origin in nuclear energy. At the same time, solar energy provides 2% and wind energy 5%.
According to the report, China, by a large margin, has been the biggest Bitcoin mining nation. Aside from China, the world’s top 10 Bitcoin mining nations in 2020–2021 included the United States, Kazakhstan, Russia, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, Iran, Ireland, and Singapore.
There are more recent studies that highlight the exaggeration of these assumptions. In any case, the UN attacked Bitcoin without taking into account other sources and studies.
Emissions Were Exaggerated
On the other side of the coin, there are other studies of great importance. For example, the University of Cambridge’s alternative energy center has its own environmental impact measurement of Bitcoin digital mining. After years of talking about a large emission of greenhouse gases, the CBECI recognized that it exaggerated.
In a report from September this year, the adjustments made by the experts at this center are detailed. In particular, they explain that the sources of clean energy that fuel the mining industry are greater than assumed. Likewise, they emphasize that the impact has a decreasing trend nature.
The latter means that emissions tend to decrease due to the efficiency of new mining equipment. Older and more polluting equipment becomes obsolete since it consumes more energy and has less computing power. That motivates companies to get rid of them at an accelerated pace.
With this in perspective, the UN report on Bitcoin can be said to be one-sided in its conclusions.
By Audy Castaneda
