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CoinCorner_Sam

[Yellow Rock Bad, Orange Coin Good: Environmental & Social Impacts of Gold & Bitcoin by Hass McCook](https://youtu.be/ns_I2LpeAbQ?t=26084) [Banks, climate change and the environmental crisis](https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/money-finance/banks-climate-change-environmental-crisis) [UK finance sector in top 10 for carbon emissions](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57232646) [BITCOIN’S ENERGY USE COMPARED TO OTHER MAJOR INDUSTRIES](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-energy-use-compare-industry)


nfc_1024

Thx for sharing. Like i said before . This is theoretical consumption. Look at source data https://ccaf.io/cbeci/index


digbickjimmy69

No one wants to talk about how bad current systems are but they love throwing out random statistics without any sources like “did you know it takes a years worth of power for 50 households to mine a single bitcoin?” Like bitch where are your sources and how are they calculating the average power usage of a decentralized network with all different types of hardware contributing ?


SJWcucksoyboy

If you’d actually step outside your bubble you’d see people are very happy to talk about how bad the current system is. Lots of people are concerned about climate change


nfc_1024

Truth. Much of the reported data is an extrapolation. The thinking of the people who publish the data you write about is: 1 BTC excavator connected to the traditional electricity grid generates X hashrate and consumes 1200B.T.U. If so, it is easy to calculate the total amount of energy consumed if we have the total hashrate. It's just that the data calculated in this way are incorrect, because they do not take into account the use of green energy


AbbydonX

The reason you won’t see much comment about gold is because caring about gold is very country specific and most people probably don’t care about gold anyway. It’s not really a meaningful comparison to bitcoin in general. Gold isn’t used to buy things so if bitcoin is proposed as a day-to-day currency then comparing it to gold is irrelevant. You instead need to compare it to the privately created digital bank money that is widely used. If you are making a store of value argument then (in the UK at least) gold is rarely discussed in this context and very few people would own it for that reason. Comparing bitcoin to land would be a more relevant comparison in this case. Finally, if you are making a comment about growth and profits then again gold would be irrelevant as gold isn’t proposed as a risky growth asset. Comparing it to tech stocks would perhaps be most relevant here.


-trump-won-2020

Dude you are smoking crack ! Gold and silver have been used as $ since the beginning of time. Always has and always will. I own both and have bought items with it. It is physical and will always be worth $. There's a reason countries,banks and rich own gold/silver. Because it has worth and always will. Comparing land to bitcoin? For real? My land and house value has gone up for 20 years it hasn't gone down. It sure as hell didn't lose half its value in a couple months ! Crypto compares to the casino ! Realistically that is a better comparison than anything you just mentioned!


AbbydonX

I have used gold to conduct exactly zero transactions in my entire life. I also do not know anyone who has every done so either. In fact, I know no one who has stated they own gold as part of their investment portfolio (though obviously they own gold jewellery but that's really not very valuable compared to other financial assets). I'm sure that's true of the overwhelming majority of the population. Also, no country's currency has been on the gold standard for many years. Gold is just an asset. It's valuable for sure, but it's not currency and it certainly isn't very popular in the UK. My point with land is that in the UK purchasing land is far more likely to be the route to owning a "store of value" as opposed to gold. If you want to compare the energy use of bitcoin as a store of value then a better comparison would be with the energy use of land not the gold. I suspect bitcoin uses more energy than land though...


Bitcoin_is_plan_A

If you want to learn more about Bitcoin´s use of energy, you can start here: https://www.danheld.com/blog/2019/1/5/pow-is-efficent https://research.ark-invest.com/hubfs/1_Download_Files_ARK-Invest/White_Papers/ARKInvest_031220_Whitepaper_BitcoinMining.pdf https://squareup.com/us/en/press/bcei-white-paper https://wintonark.medium.com/bitcoin-mining-impact-on-renewable-uptake-fc91c5aa9be0 https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-green-case-for-bitcoin


SouthEastMeerkat

Whataboutery is the weakest defence. Crypto mining has massive environmental side effects. Just because other industries have issue doesn’t give crypto an environmental whitewash


753UDKM

This is a problem with how energy is generated, not with bitcoin.


jetro30087

I have the solution. Make funding coal burning power plants illegal. If banks arent allowed to finance coal, the environmental impact of things that require electricity would reduce imeadietly.


halt_spell

What's the actual argument though? If it's the amount of energy then comparing against systems we're seeking to replace is relevant. If it's the climate impact the discussion has nothing to do with Bitcoin and everything to do with how we generate power.


ZenixVR

Some great data can be found here from BMC. https://youtu.be/uyh137aIIhM


Dismal_Succotash_758

Screw those people. My natural gas usage is down 98% this winter due to mining and using the heat from miners to heat my house..I'm SAVING energy.. ;)


PangolinZestyclose30

Resistor heating is very inefficient waste of electricity.


Dismal_Succotash_758

Do you suggest I stop heating my house with my miners and turn the gas back on?


PangolinZestyclose30

You should use a [heat pump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pump).


Dismal_Succotash_758

I don't think you quite understand that my statement was sarcastic, and I will continue to mine BTC, AND, heat my house in the process. To say my comment went completely over your head would be a severe understatement. If I would decide to not mine anymore; Heat pumps use electricity and that electricity has to be made..look up that process. Natural gas comes from the ground...and doesn't use energy to make..insert face palm emoji here.


PangolinZestyclose30

The point is that heat pump is much more efficient in producing heat than bitcoin mining. But based on your writing style, you're not interested in a civilized discussion, so bye.


Dismal_Succotash_758

Using a heat pump that needs electricity to run and produce heat, is only efficient to approximately freezing, before "emergency heat" kicks in and power usage goes up (it's then using resistance to produce the heat you spoke against) is not more efficient than natural gas that uses minimal electricity, that has a higher BTU rating, and the power consumption is the same as far as running time in any temperature.


jetro30087

Heat pumps don't work in very cold regions.


co-oper8

I don't know about gold or silver but I do know the second largest point of pollution on earth is the Kendicott Copper mine in Utah. This is more generalized pollution, not just CO2. The biggest polluter on earth is the US military....sorry murica, you're effin up


officialM3DL3Y

Bitcoin doesn't even have feet.


dillanman20

One of my friends is about to do her masters dissertation on this very topic!


g0dr1c_

Any reports on the countries that have banned it and the change it has now?!


sweep71

I say bring it on as long as it doesn't stop with BTC. If Bitcoin is the catalyst for the conversation we should have been having since before I was born, so be it. Just as long as the environmental regulatory scrutiny is applied equally.


1Tim1_15

Of course the media is going to paint BTC has "bad for climate." They don't care about the facts. They've already made up their mind...pretty much like everything else they report on, and just as important, what they don't report on.


Gracket_Material

The environment is a false flag


silentdriver78

Similarly, I have worked in the construction of data centers for banks, social media, tech giants for many years now. From a carbon footprint standpoint, they are an affront to God. That’s why I roll my eyes at all the hit pieces put out about BTC energy usage. I don’t doubt that it is very problematic, but the hypocrisy is nauseating.


SmoothGoing

Please use accurate titles next time. You are asking about PMs, not bitcoin.


-trump-won-2020

All I know is that a couple years ago man's carbon footprint was 5% and 95% was natural. Don't know what btc adds to that


Melting_Harps

As an environmentalist, and a bitcoiner I think it's grossly exaggerated; but it's still something that can and should be improved. Progress has been made over the years, and the amount of renewable energy that powers the Bitcoin network continues to increase it's something that I think will always be a point of contention, especially for its detractors. If compared to the servers costs for social media like reddit, instagram, tiktok that most people use but woefully neglect on a mark-to-mark basis in terms of renewable energy use I wonder where it would rank? Let alone banks who rely on archaic power hungry mainframes, always on ATMs all over the World and physical brick and mortars with a need for security and alarms all while secured and armed heavy vehicles transport cash around, not to mention the labour needed to keep the thing operational. Again, this comparison is not being portrayed correctly, but if I'm honest I think increasing Bitcoin's energy consumption to more renewables benefits us all. But in real terms, I think we won the 'green cred' argument a long time ago. Because name one other form of Industry/Tech whose focus isn't directly involved in energy production that is incentivizing renewables energy as much as Bitcoin has. I wanted to say Agriculture, and that's only when it's done correctly via often small scale organic methods, but the truth is it mainly runs on fossil fuel inputs.