Bitcoin has been equated to oil due to the detrimental impact of mining on the environment

Bitcoin acts more like «digital oil» than «digital gold» when it comes to its impact on the climate. This is stated in an article by researchers from the University of New Mexico’s School of Economics. According to the researchers, in the period from 2016 to 2021, each dollar of bitcoin’s market value accounted for an average of $ 0.35 of global «climate damage.»

«On this scale, bitcoin mining is in the range between beef production and crude oil burned as gasoline,» the authors of the study said.

The scientists concluded that the mining of the first cryptocurrency has too many red flags to consider bitcoin an economically stable asset. The researchers believe that the network’s transition to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm would not have been able to dramatically change the situation.

According to CCAF (Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance), bitcoin mining currently consumes 94 TWh of energy per year. For comparison, the annual consumption of all refrigerators in the United States is 104 TWh. At the same time, the share of «green» energy sources in mining is 37.6%. CCAF estimates that since the creation of the bitcoin network and until September 21, 2022, miners of the first cryptocurrency have produced 199.65 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The annual figure is 48.35 million tons of CO₂.

Earlier, we informed you about the study of resources used for bitcoin mining. According to the findings of scientists, the most efficient and popular energy sources were the nuclear and gas industries. As of January 2022, coal and natural gas accounted for 62% of the total energy used to mine the flagship cryptocurrency. At that time, hydropower accounted for only 15%.

It should be added that the World Economic Forum has created the Cryptocurrency Sustainability Coalition. The organization is to assess the role of digital assets and blockchain in the fight against climate change. The Crypto Sustainability Coalition includes 30 companies, educational groups, and other industry representatives, including cryptocurrency projects Solana, Avalanche, Circle, NEAR Foundation, Ripple, and Stellar Development Foundation.