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Can the world afford Bitcoin? The cryptocurrency is enjoying something of a resurgence as investment and central banks weighed its benefits and caused its value to balloon. But generating Bitcoin requires a truly staggering amount of energy. The electricity used in a single Bitcoin transaction, for instance, could power a house for a month.
And bitcoin mining the process of generating a bitcoin now consumes the same amount of electricity every year as Denmark - 33TWh, according to one recent report. An earlier report found that Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than a country the size of Ireland, Serbia or Bahrain.
At that rate of growth, it will consume as much electricity as the US in And by , bitcoin mining could be consuming the same amount of electricity every year as is currently used by the entire world. However, while there has been a lot of talk about how Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies may eventually replace existing fiat currencies — those issued and traded by governments — one important question seems to have been avoided or ignored by financial wizards and policy makers.
Bitcoin is earned by generating blocks , chains of transactions, verifying transactions are correct, and answering mathematical puzzles. A new chain is created every 10 minutes or so and, according to a Business Insider article , the use of complicated and energy-intensive algorithms are part of a deliberate ploy to guarantee a degree of exclusivity.
While this alone seems huge, it is tiny when compared with the energy expended on the daily amount of trades: As the average US citizen used 12, Bitcoin also uses a lot more power when compared with other transaction systems.
A typical Visa card payment, for example, requires 0. This raises important questions as to the cost benefits of Bitcoin, not only to users, but for the rest of the planet. As most of the world still relies on coal, gas and oil to produce electricity, the use of energy-consuming algorithms to drive the Bitcoin mining process means we are burning fossil fuels just so transactions can happen.
As well as creating harmful small particulates , or soot, which can get into the lungs and bloodstreams of animals and humans and cause serious illnesses, byproducts from power generation include toxic nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions, as well as carbon dioxide, one of the main gases linked to global changes in climate.
However, although Bitcoin is one of the worst examples of our profligate use of fossil fuels to create wealth, it is not alone. The whole digital world relies on power generation to run the data centres at the heart of the modern economy. It seems that businesses around the world are looking to a digital future while governments are talking of a more sustainable one: Adam Jezard , Formative Content. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Adam Jezard Formative Content. Google wants you to stop using your Android so much Keith Breene 14 May No one knows when the Hawaiian lava will stop flowing.
Here's why Simon Brandon 14 May More on the agenda. Accelerating climate action Our Impact. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. A world map showing countries that use less energy than global Bitcoin mining. And this is not good for the planet or our health. Is the digital world sustainable? Germany is getting hydrogen powered trains These two countries are asking the rest of the world to stop using coal This country could soon make Bitcoin its official currency.
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