[ballenf]

Why is energy consumption itself become a bad thing? I get greenhouse gas emissions being bad, but why make energy consumption itself a negative?

Not to mention that "consuming" energy is somewhat a fiction: it's more so changing the entropy of a system. True consumption of energy, at the extreme, would imply sending energy into deep space (any direction other than the sun really) where it can never be recovered.

Is the problem that such entropy changes usually (always?) result in at least some heat loss? And the the planet is warming, so heat itself is seen as a negative?

To make my point a different way, if a mining rig were 100% solar and 100% efficient (both fantasy, of course), then it could consume unlimited solar energy with no ill effects. Thus basing our judgment on energy consumption instead of waste heat and energy source issues seems misguided.

Is it just too complicating to discuss this in terms of CO2 emissions and waste heat, instead of Watts alone?

[ResearchAtPlay]

Every form of electricity production consumes an array of limited natural resources. Wind and solar power don't have no direct CO2 emissions, but minerals need to be mined, plenty of clean water is consumed during manufacturing, and wildlife habitats are impacted by land-use change (wind and solar plants have a comparatively larger land footprint than fossil fuel plants).

Fun Fact: The article says Bitcoin mining consumes ~1.1 GW of power. There is currently a massive political struggle over the construction of "Site C", a 1.1 GW Hydroelectric dam in British Columbia, Canada. Construction on that dam began last year, but public opposition caused a new provincial government to review the dam construction. The dam will flood 93 square kilometers of land but produce 5.1 GWh of low-carbon electricity annually, about 53% of the articles assumed Bitcoin mining consumption of 9.6 GWh (which is = 1.1 GW x 8760 hours/year). Whether construction of the dam will be cancelled or resumed, the decision will be controversial! (The decision will be announced before the end of the year).

In summary, bitcoin mining from renewable energy sources is desirable, but bitcoin mining (and all other forms of computing) will always have some negative impact. That is something we need to be aware of.

[em3rgent0rdr]

Exactly. I feel that all these people complaining about bitcoin contributing to global warming would be better off focusing on implementing a global carbon tax (or cap'n'trade). That way the specific problem of greenhouse gasses gets addressed, while not interfering with the market.