Greg Dalton: I had no idea Bitcoin was so energy-consumptive, but it turns out Bitcoin is designed that way on purpose to be super secure. The New York Times reported recently on a Bitcoin mining operation in Rockdale, Texas that uses as much electricity as 300,000 nearby homes. Even when Bitcoin mining uses renewable power, environmentalists and others argue that it's drawing that power away from other places where it could be more useful during this energy transition.
Studies estimate that global bitcoin mining uses more electricity than most countries, and that bitcoin mining may be responsible for about 65 megatons of carbon dioxide a year, comparable with the emissions of Greece. Some bitcoin operations are bringing old coal plants back on line, even as lobbyists for the bitcoin mining industry argue that mining operations can have a positive impact on the climate by creating more demand for carbon-free power. But even if all of the power were derived from green sources, is bitcoin mining really the best use of renewable electricity?
This episode features a report by multimedia journalist Lily Jamali of the public radio program Marketplace, who takes us inside a crypto mining facility in upstate New York.
Guests:
Rolf Skar, Senior Advisor, Greenpeace USA
Brittany Kaiser, Chair of the Board, Gryphon Digital Mining
Thomas Cmar, Senior Attorney, Earthjustice
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