Bitcoin uses more electricity than Argentina, Norway, study finds

As the price of bitcoin skyrocketed over the last year, so has the amount of energy used to mine the cryptocurrency, prompting concerns about its environmental impact.

• The price of a bitcoin currently sits at nearly US$44,150 ($56,840). There are about 18.6 million bitcoins in circulation according to digital currency exchange company Coinbase.
• The energy used to harvest it has soared to a point where its annual carbon footprint is equivalent to or more than several countries including Argentina and Norway, according to an analysis published by Cambridge University.
• Bitcoin mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithms – is a deeply energy-intensive process.
• “Mining” bitcoin involves solving complex math problems in order to create new bitcoins. Miners are rewarded in bitcoin.
• A single transaction of bitcoin has the same carbon footprint as 680,000 Visa transactions or 51,210 hours of watching YouTube, according to Cambridge’s Centre for Alternative Finances.
• Environmentalists say that mining is a major cause for concern, particularly because miners will go wherever electricity is cheapest and that may mean places that use coal.
• According to Cambridge, China has the most bitcoin mining of any country by far. While the country has been slowly moving toward renewable energy, about two-thirds of its electricity comes from coal.
• Since there is no government body or organization that officially tracks where bitcoin is being mined and what type of electricity miners are using, there is no way of knowing whether miners are using electricity that is fueled by renewable energy or fossil fuels.

The study hopes to launch an interactive geographic map that tracks the location and energy mix of bitcoin mining facilities.