Bitcoin (BTC) mining is becoming increasingly environmentally friendly. While this isn't a universally accepted view, it's the conclusion of the latest report from the Bitcoin Mining Council. Long accused of being an ecological disaster, the mining industry is now proving itself in terms of sustainable development.
The BMC's recent Q4 survey confirms year-over-year improvements in the sustainable energy mix and technological efficiency of cryptocurrency. According to the same report, more than 58,9% of the network is now supplied with renewable energy.
What is the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC)?
The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) is a voluntary global forum of bitcoin (BTC) mining companies and other companies in the crypto industry.
It is the world's largest forum, bringing together the majority of Bitcoin miners. For several years now, the forum has been committed to transparency regarding the energy consumption of Bitcoin (BTC) mining . Last January, the forum announced the results of its Q4 2022 survey ("T4"), which focused on three metrics: electricity consumption, technological efficiency, and sustainable energy mix.
How is the BMC report conducted?
The BMC has collected data from more than half, 48,4% to be more precise, of the global Bitcoin network. Data from its 45 mining companies represented 107,7 exahash (EH) in the sector. The results of this survey show that BMC member mining companies and other companies participating in the survey currently use electricity with a sustainable energy mix of 63,8%.
Based on this data, it is estimated that the sustainable power mix of the global bitcoin mining industry is now 58,9%. Which means it increased by around 5% year over year. More precisely from the second quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022. Performance that makes it one of the most sustainable industries in the world.
Additionally, year-over-year, the technological efficiency of the global Bitcoin network is estimated to have increased by 16%, from 19,3 EH per gigawatt (GW) in Q2 2021 to 22,4 EH per GW in Q2 2022. This efficiency gain reaffirms the fact that as the Bitcoin network continues to grow, it will become even more efficient over time.
Moreover, the release of this data represents the seventh quarterly release from the BMC since its creation in May 2021 with the support of some major Bitcoin mining companies as well as MicroStrategy and its CEO, Michael Saylor.
More than 59% of electricity used comes from renewable energy
Indeed, the recent BMC report highlights that the bitcoin (BTC) mining industry “uses an insignificant amount of the world's energy, approximately 0,16%”. Its share in global CO2 emissions is even more negligible, around 0,10%. Bitcoin (BTC) mining is therefore not the ecological disaster that people want to present to us. The simple reason being that the electricity used by BTC miners comes almost 59,5% from renewable energy. The computing power allocated to securing the Bitcoin network has soared by 73% year over year. On the other hand, its energy consumption only increased by 41%.
This difference is explained by a 23% increase in the energy efficiency of mining equipment . Moore's Law predicts that the transistor density in microprocessors doubles every two years thanks to technological advances.
Indeed, mining machines use 5 nm chips today and, by 2027, 1.4 nm chips if we are to believe the world leader TSMC:
“ In the second quarter of 2022, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate and associated security improved by 137% year over year, while energy consumption increased by only 63%. We saw a 46% year-over-year increase in efficiency due to advancements in semiconductor technology, the rapid expansion of North American mining, the Chinese exodus, and the global adoption of sustainable energy and modern bitcoin mining techniques, ” said Mr. Saylor.
On July 19th, the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) held a presentation to discuss these results. The video of the presentation is available here.
Who are the members of the BMC?
The Bitcoin Mining Council is a voluntary and open forum of Bitcoin mining companies and other engaged Bitcoin industry companies, such as mining pools. It promotes transparency, shares best practices and educates the public on the benefits of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining. All stakeholders in the bitcoin ecosystem are represented.
Members include Argo Blockchain , Arkon Energy , Atlas Mining , atNorth , Bit5ive LLC , etc.
The Bitcoin Mining Council was created with the aim of transparently communicating data from the mining industry and promoting the trend towards the use of green energy.
Final word
From the above, the debate surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) mining and its environmental impact remains relevant. Recently, Greenpeace USA's "Change the Code" campaign sought to persuade the Bitcoin mining community to modify the code to make it less energy-intensive. Greenpeace's campaign had minimal impact because the figures presented by the Bitcoin Mining Council were cited by Bitcoin proponents.
While some media predicted a grim outcome for the planet from bitcoin mining, the industry is turning out to be much more environmentally friendly.
With a power supply of more than 59,5% clean energy, the bitcoin mining industry becomes by far the most ecological on a global scale. At the rate things are going, there is hope that mining will progress towards 100% renewable.
Even better, we also see that beyond good environmental practices, mining farms can also have positive externalities by boosting the regions where they are located. This is particularly true of the mining company Gridless , which manages to use surplus energy produced while allowing neighboring villages to benefit from lower-cost electricity. It is also true of farmers who manage to reduce methane emissions through Bitcoin mining.
See also:
- This is how a small bitcoin mining farm is improving the economy of African villages
- The story of the Irish farmer who mines bitcoin using his cows
- GAMA's new minor assistance program
For more information, please visit https://bitcoinminingcouncil.com/
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