A report of research on bitcoin mining by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), affiliated with the University of Cambridge, has generated new controversy.
The report is provided in the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI). The research updates facts about the pollution status from bitcoin mining and the use of electricity for mining.
Mining Effect
According to the report, 48.35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted every year from bitcoin mining. And more than 62% of the electricity used in the process by bitcoin mining companies is generated from fossil fuels.
The report undermines the claims of polluting mining opponents, as it accounts for only 0.1% of global greenhouse gases, but recently after Ethereum PoS became less polluting than PoW, bitcoin mining is being questioned. Now Zcash and Dogecoin are also being considered for creating PoS, but for bitcoin this is very unlikely.
The report refutes the miners' claims of profit from the production of renewable energy for bitcoin mining. Lower energy production by miners and higher consumption of fossil fuels is reducing electricity supply to other areas and not producing pollution-free surplus energy.
