Improving Bitcoin Codes Can Significantly Reduce Energy Consumption by 99%

According to some statistics, bitcoin mining consumes as much energy as Sweden, and its rising popularity is reviving failed fossil fuel businesses in the United States.

According to a campaign started on Tuesday, all of that might alter with a simple adjustment in the way it is coded.

Changing the Code

Change the Code, Not the Climate, a campaign organized by the Environmental Working Group, Greenpeace USA, and several groups fighting bitcoin mining facilities in their communities, is urging bitcoin to change the way bitcoins are mined to reduce the cryptocurrency's massive carbon footprint.

To confirm and safeguard transactions, bitcoin's software code, known as "proof of work," necessitates the employment of large computer arrays. Proof of work determines whether or not a miner has completed the exceedingly difficult cryptographic challenges required to contribute to the bitcoin ledger.

Ethereum

Ethereum, a competitor cryptocurrency, is switching to a new technique called "proof of stake," which it claims would cut its energy use by 99 percent. Miners promise their currencies to verify transactions under the proof of stake paradigm; providing erroneous information results in fines.

Energy Consumption

The campaign's organizers claim that as the value and use of cryptocurrencies rises, bitcoin must follow step or find a less energy-intensive approach. "This is a major issue. "Partly because of where the business is currently, but also because of our concerns about its expansion," said Michael Brune, Sierra Club's campaign director, and former executive director.

Following China's crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and trade in May, the United States currently leads the world in cryptocurrency mining.

Dormant or soon-to-be-closed coal facilities are being resurrected and devoted only to bitcoin mining. Gas plants, which had become increasingly economically uncompetitive in many situations, are now being used to mine bitcoin. This is happening all around the country, according to Brune.

It's especially galling to see this in the electric sector because that's where the US has made the greatest progress in the previous decade, he explained.

He claims they won't be able to meet their climate targets if they keep restarting fossil-fuel facilities.

Bitcoin Miners Going Renewable

Recently, some bitcoin miners have started using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar to power their operations. While such actions are "obviously well-intentioned," Brune believes that "a few boutique wind or solar plants powering a few high-profile mining activities" will not be enough to offset the environmental cost. "The underlying difficulty with bitcoin mining is that fossil fuel expansion is surpassing renewable growth," Brune remarked.

The basic problem will remain because bitcoin's structure "incentivizes maximal energy usage" unless the code is changed, according to Chris Larsen, the creator and executive chairman of crypto firm Ripple and a climate campaigner. "The minute there is a chance to do anything nasty, which is what you are witnessing, it will be done."

Possibilities

One "horrific scenario," he added, is that the world transitions to a renewable future in China, the United States, and the European Union, but nations that rely on fossil fuels turn to bitcoin mining to keep their businesses afloat.

"Imagine the Saudis sitting on all that oil, which costs around 12 cents per kilowatt-hour - no renewable can compete," Larsen added. "Bitcoin mining has the potential to be a never-ending monetization engine for fossil fuels." That'd be an absolute nightmare."

Digital advertising in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Marketwatch, Politico, Facebook, and other newspapers will kick off the campaign. Organizers are also pursuing legal action against prospective mining locations and leveraging their massive membership to pressure bitcoin's most powerful investors and influencers to demand a code change. "With all these educated individuals globally, there has to be a better answer," Larsen said.

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