I'm not a blockchain/crypto expert by any means, but I've been hearing about how much energy the proof-of-work blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs) consume. Unless I'm mistaken their whole design relies on cranking through more and more CPU cycles. Should we be more concerned about this? Are the concerns overblown? Are there ways to improve it without certain crypto currencies imploding?
<p><pre><code> Thankfully, cheap energy fit for Bitcoin mining is increasingly not found in fossil fuels, but in renewables, wasted and “stranded” sources of energy, as we’ll dive into next. [1]
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tl;dr; The perfect competition of bitcoin mining is/will drive bitcoin to eventually only work off the least expensive (which currently is renewable[2]) and even more so on marginally wasted energy[3] or "stranded energy" (like a natural gas flare on a well).<p>[1]: <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-will-save-our-earth" rel="nofollow">https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-will-save-our-e...</a><p>[2]: <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/solar-is-now-cheapest-electricity-in-history-confirms-iea" rel="nofollow">https://www.carbonbrief.org/solar-is-now-cheapest-electricit...</a><p>[3]: For example, to illustrate the point, I currently mine BTG on a spare GPU I had because my house needed to be heated anyways. I turn the miner on when I want heat in my house (about 600w) and turn it off when not needed... This is a micro example of what could be done across our entire society
"Recent data suggest that space heating accounts for about 42 percent of energy use in U.S. residences and about 36 percent of energy use in U.S. commercial buildings."[4] . Every one of those space heaters could actually be a processor doing computation. In the future the "waster" will not be a miner but someone who turns electricity straight to heat without intermediate chains of value (such as computation or light).<p>[4]:<a href="https://www.epa.gov/rhc/renewable-space-heating#:~:text=Recent%20data%20suggest%20that%20space,use%20in%20U.S.%20commercial%20buildings" rel="nofollow">https://www.epa.gov/rhc/renewable-space-heating#:~:text=Rece...</a>.
A rational market would be choosing an asset that offers value storage and transmission (between points in spacetime) according to criteria: "security" (security theater, infosec, cryptologic competency assessment, software assurances), "future stability" (future switching costs), and "<i>cost</i>".<p>The externalities of energy production are what must be overcome if we are to be able to withstand wasteful overconsumption of electricity. Eventually, we could all have free clean energy and no lightsabers, right?<p>So, we do need to minimize wasteful overconsumption. Define wasteful in terms of USD/kWHr (irregardless of industry)? In terms of behavioral economics, why are they behaving that way when there are alternatives that cost <$0.01/tx and a fairly-aggregated comprehensive <i>n</i> kWhr of electricity?<p>TIL about these guys, who are deciding to somewhat-responsibly <i>self-regulate</i> in the interest of long-term environmental sustainability for all of the land: "Crypto Climate Accord". <a href="https://cryptoclimate.org/" rel="nofollow">https://cryptoclimate.org/</a><p>"Crypto Climate Accord Launches to Decarbonize Cryptocurrency Industry Brings together the likes of CoinShares, ConsenSys, Ripple, and the UNFCCC Climate Champions to lead sustainability in blockchain and crypto" (2021)
<a href="https://bit.ly/CryptoClimateAccord" rel="nofollow">https://bit.ly/CryptoClimateAccord</a><p>> <i>What are the objectives of the Crypto Climate Accord?
The Accord’s overall objective is to decarbonize the global crypto industry. There are three provisional objectives to be finalized in partnership with Accord supporters:</i><p>> <i>- Enable all of the world’s blockchains to be powered by 100% renewables by the 2025 UNFCCC COP Conference</i><p>> <i>- Develop an open-source accounting standard for measuring emissions from the cryptocurrency industry</i><p>> <i>- Achieve net-zero emissions for the entire crypto industry, including all business operations beyond blockchains and retroactive emissions, by 2040</i><p>Similar to the Paris Agreement (2015), stakeholders appear to be setting their own targets for sustainability in accordance with the Crypto Climate Accord (2021). <a href="https://cryptoclimate.org/accord/" rel="nofollow">https://cryptoclimate.org/accord/</a><p>Someone who's not in renewables could launch e.g. a "Satoshi Nakamoto Clean Energy Fund: SNCEF" to receive donations from e.g. hash pools and connect nonprofits with sustainability managed renewables. How many SNCEFs did you give this year and why?<p>#CleanEnergy