![\"Bitcoin.environment-energy-consumption\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Country-ranking-and-Bitcoin-energy-consumption.-Source-CBECI.jpg\")
Crypto mining isn\u2019t as harmful to the environment as everyone makes it out to be.<\/strong> But there\u2019s more: it could have a hidden potential for sustainability. After all, what looks like a resource for destruction at first glance might in fact help us to build a greener future. How? Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mining farms in areas with low energy costs can have a competitive advantage over others. All that consumed energy isn\u2019t cheap, so to stay profitable crypto mining<\/a> farms also need to be conscientious about their use of electricity. Renewable energy is worth considering because it provides lower long-term costs than traditional fossil fuel-based power sources such as coal or natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The miners worldwide<\/a>, from individuals to companies, know this very well. That\u2019s why, according to the Bitcoin Mining Council<\/a>, the mining energy mix increased its sustainability by 60% in 2022. <\/strong>This means that more and more miners are using renewables to power their machines \u2014from solar panels and hydroelectric sources to wasted energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A remarkable case comes from the firm Stronghold Digital Mining. They\u2019re using the wasted coal left by (physical) mining activities in the 20th<\/sup> century in Pennsylvania. As their report<\/a> indicates, this crypto mining company is helping the environment by removing \u201capproximately 279,000 tons of coal refuse and returned approximately 179,000 tons of beneficial use ash to waste coal sites during the first quarter of 2022, facilitating the remediation of these sites.\u201d Their profitability increased this way too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other cases include the mining farms of Argo Blockchain<\/a> (powered by wind, solar and hydro energy), TeraWulf (hydropower and nuclear), Marathon (wasted coal), Lancium<\/a> (wind and solar), Aspen Creek Digital<\/a> (solar), and Riot Blockchain<\/a> (hydropower). Even Tesla Inc., after refusing<\/a> Bitcoin for environmental concerns, is now building<\/a> a mining facility powered by solar energy and batteries, along with the firms Blockstream and Block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since practicing crypto mining with renewables isn\u2019t only good for the environment but also for profitability, the demand for these energies could rise even more<\/strong>. According to the climate tech entrepreneur Daniel Batten<\/a>, crypto mining is one of the industries increasing the demand for renewable energy worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This could lead to major production and major usage in the future \u2014thus, cleaning the environment from fossil fuels. Not always a major energy consumption is something bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we mentioned before, companies like Stronghold are using wasted coal for their crypto mining activities and cleaning the environment this way. But coal isn\u2019t the only material polluting around. In Latin America, several companies chose to use organic waste<\/strong> (like sewage and cow\u2019s dung) to mine Bitcoin<\/a> and clean some beautiful spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is one of the most touristic spots on the continent. Known as the \u201cworld\u2019s most beautiful lake\u201d, it has a length of 18 km, a depth of 340 meters, and is surrounded by three volcanoes and at least eleven towns. Sadly, it\u2019s been warned<\/a> that around 400 liters of wastewater and other organic waste fall into the lake every second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the surprise of the world, Bitcoin can help with it. The team behind the citadel Bitcoin Lake<\/a> (on the shores of this lake) se p\u0159ipravuje<\/a> a crypto mining project to save this environment. They\u2019re planning to take this organic waste and transform it into methane (biogas) using biodigesters<\/strong>. Then, the mining farms could be powered by recycled methane while the lake is being cleaned profitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they\u2019re not alone. In Cordoba, Argentina, the firm CryptoGranjas is doing the same with cow\u2019s dung and other harmful materials. They\u2019re already building<\/a> biodigesters and powering them with these materials to produce methane for crypto mining. Currently in expansion, this way of mining could quickly spread, and help polluted spaces around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some firms have been strongly against crypto mining, arguing<\/a> that it could increase the global temperature in the next years. These claims have already been proved dubious by several experts<\/a>. After all, cryptocurrencies don\u2019t consume the amount of energy needed for that. But what if it can be completely the opposite? Can crypto mining help to decrease the global temperature?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Daniel Batten, this could happen<\/a>. Currently, the most harmful emission for the planet isn\u2019t even CO2, but unburnt methane. When this element escapes into the air, it can be 30 times more warming than CO2 and remain in the atmosphere for twelve years. However, when the methane is burnt (as natural gas to cook, for example) produces a less-harmful amount of CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we can combust enough of this escaping methane in time, we might be able to avoid climate disaster\u201d, affirmed Batten, and then calculated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThrough clean combustion of flared gas from oilfields and landfills alone, Bitcoin can reduce methane emissions by a phenomenal 23% (…) Because UNEP found that cutting human-caused methane by 45% this decade would avoid nearly 0.3\u00b0C of global warming by the 2040s, this means that the contribution of bitcoin mining to reducing climate change can be 0.15\u00b0C of global warming by the 2040s.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So, if the crypto miners keep using methane as an energy source, they could even prevent more climate change<\/strong>. Who would say it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since most Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT<\/a>) work on Ethereum (a crypto mining network dosud<\/a>), they\u2019ve been widely criticized for a possible environmental impact. Although, they\u2019re also working to be greener and contribute to the environment. For instance, the global network of ecological filmmakers Ocean Collective spu\u0161t\u011bna<\/a> a green NFT collection along with Polygon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The collection titled \u201cMuseum of Extinction\u201d depicted endangered species in every artwork. The raised funds are destined to mitigate the negative impact on the ocean<\/strong>, which includes projects for plastic removal, protecting species, and sequestering carbon through marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also have the Metaverse project Next Earth helping the planet. They sell virtual lands in the form of NFTs<\/a>, and 10% of every transaction goes directly to selected environmental charities. These include<\/a> SEE Turtles (to save sea turtles), Kiss the ground (to heal soils), and Amazon Watch (to protect rainforests and native people).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moss Earth is another green crypto project. They\u2019re selling Amazon NFTs<\/a> as symbolic areas of the homonymous rainforest. The owners can monitor these areas and their preservation. <\/strong>Likewise, the firm is issuing the coin MCO2 to tokenize carbon credits. So far, they already sent<\/a> over $30 million to Amazon conservation initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These good causes aren\u2019t unique inside the NFTs and crypto mining world. There are many more around<\/a>, doing their part. In this case, we can say that isn\u2019t about what you use, but how you use it. Crypto mining can help us more with the environment than we think, but we need to start using it the right way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chcete obchodovat s Bitcoin a dal\u0161\u00edmi \u017eetony? M\u016f\u017ee\u0161 to ud\u011blat<\/em> bezpe\u010dn\u011b <\/em>na Alfacash<\/a><\/em>! A nezapome\u0148te, \u017ee mluv\u00edme o tomto a mnoha dal\u0161\u00edch v\u011bcech na na\u0161ich soci\u00e1ln\u00edch m\u00e9di\u00edch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Telegram<\/a> * Facebook<\/a> * Instagram<\/a> * Youtube<\/a> *Cvrlik\u00e1n\u00ed<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crypto mining isn\u2019t as harmful to the environment as everyone says. Indeed, it could even help us with sustainability. How\u2019s that?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[73,61,330,340,277,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-10446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-analysis","8":"tag-crypto-mining","9":"tag-cryptocurrencies","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-latin-america","12":"tag-nfts","13":"tag-united-states"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/A-05-blog.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Isabel P\u00e9rez","author_link":"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/cs\/author\/isabel\/"},"yoast_head":"\nGreener crypto mining farms for the environment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Crypto-mining-environment-Stronghold\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Wasted-coal-facility-for-crypto-mining-by-Stronghold-Digital-Mining-1024x455.jpg\")
More cases and more demand<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"bitcoin-tesla-zelen\u00e1-energie\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/light-bulb-984551_1280-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCleaning the environment with crypto mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Crypto-mining-environment-lake\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/1920px-Atitlan_Lake-1024x252.jpg\")
Defeating climate change with crypto mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Crypto-mining-environment-climate\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/earth-2091112_1280-1024x800.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNFTs are saving the environment too<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Crypto-mining-NFT-Manatee\"](\"https:\/\/alfacash.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Manatee-NFT-inside-the-Museum-of-Extinction-collection.-Source-Ocean-Collective.jpg\")
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