| I went searching for a source and came up with the same one you cited. Per the Bitcoin Mining council, > 58.9% of global Bitcoin mining uses sustainable (i.e. renewable) energy 58.9% > 50% and higher than any other industry. What am I missing? > a) almost half of a large amount of energy use isn’t sustainable Per your own source, it isn’t almost half renewable globally. It it over half renewable (58.9%) which is higher than any other industry. > b) at least some of that usage is simply pushing other would-be consumers of renewable energy onto fossil fuel sources, regardless if some of what is used for crypto is purely excess production, Per the 4th point in my parent comment, using the example of the Texas grid which relies heavily on wind power, not only is Bitcoin mining uniquely suited to consume otherwise wasted intermittent power. By doing so it actually strengthens the resilience of the energy grid by making a higher baseline energy capacity available to offset spikes in demand. I challenge you to find a real-world example of Bitcoin mining pushing any other would-be consumers of renewable energy onto fossil fuel sources. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Bitcoin subsidizes building new renewable capacity by enabling grids to monetize highly variable solar and wind energy output. Most other industries rely on consistent power, which Bitcoin mining provides by monetizing otherwise unused variable capacity. > c) unlike the other industries refered to in the quote, this industry's additions to society are negligible It is your opinion, cited without substantiation that Bitcoin’s security model has negligible value for society. My bullet #5 in the parent comment cites several examples, so clearly me and hundreds of millions of Bitcoin holders disagree. > d) the vast majority of the energy burden is self-imposed I don’t understand the point of your last comment. How does the energy burden of Bitcoin mining compare with the energy Burden of the US military industry which consumes 1 million times the energy, mostly from fossil fuels? |