Recent discussions have focused on bitcoin mining’s impact on the environment. Many climate activists think proof-of-work mining (PoW), is too energy-intensive. However, a recent report written by the ESG analyst Daniel Batten explains that bitcoin mining could eliminate the world’s carbon emissions by 5.32%. Batten’s study notes that if bitcoin mining entities “aggressively” targeted leaked methane, bitcoin mining has the potential to avoid 0.15% of warming by 2045.
ESG Analyst Claims Bitcoin Mining Is Currently the Only ‘Technologically Feasible’ Way of Reducing Methane Emissions
Geneious CEO, and ESG analyst on May 23, 2022 Daniel BattenA study that suggests bitcoin mining may help the environment has been published by. Batten tweeted about his study and said that the findings suggest “using [bitcoin]Mining methane to make it usable can reduce global CO2-eq emissions by 5.32%. In fact, Batten’s study says that bitcoin mining is one of the only ways to remove carbon emissions in a sustainable fashion. “Reducing methane emissions is the fastest way to reduce global warming and complements CO2 reduction strategies,” Batten’s report details. The study’s executive summary adds:
Blockchain mining is the best way to reduce methane emissions. It is technically feasible, and it doesn’t require any significant behavior change.
PoW mining has received a lot of criticism for its use of energy. Some believe some detractors are trying to push an agenda. However, most people accept the fact that fiat currencies require a lot of energy and carbon. Additionally, the crypto currency industry has been adding ESG friendly concepts to its digital currency mining community. Furthermore, a mining report that covers Bitcoin’s electricity usage data shows that consumption levels decreased by 25% in the first quarter of 2022.
Batten’s research goes further and notes how bitcoin mining is more effective than leveraging carbon credits or governmental systems. “Bitcoin mining is also currently the only way to combust leaking methane that is both economically and logistically feasible without carbon credits or the governments of major industrialized nations needing to issue tax incentives and funding in unison,” Batten’s report explains. “Bitcoin mining has shown early evidence of being able to scale with an exponential growth rate.”
Report Says ‘Bitcoin Mining’s Energy Consumption Is Obvious, but Its Environmental Benefit Is Not Immediately Obvious’
Bitcoin (BTC), or PoW, mining can all be used to fight leaking methane. Mining could be useful in extinguishing flared and vented gases, as noted by the report. Bitcoin mining may be able to reduce landfill gas in areas with abandoned oil wells. The researcher’s findings detail that bitcoin mining could also mitigate gas waste issues from biogas sources like manure, farming and waste regions, and waste from the food industry. “In future papers, we will quantify the CO2-eq reduction possible by using bitcoin mining with biogas or wastewater,” the report says.
“Unlike solar, whose environmental benefit is obvious but whose consumption of carbon (via coal furnaces used to melt silicon) is less obvious, bitcoin mining’s energy consumption is obvious, but its environmental benefit is not immediately obvious,” the study about quantifying the potential impact of bitcoin mining claims. “Perhaps for this reason, it is easy to make a premature and superficial assessment based only on energy consumption that Bitcoin has a net negative environmental impact. Such reasoning is flawed, since net impact can only be established by considering both environmental cost and benefit.”
Batten also outlines a variety of myths surrounding bitcoin mining that uses methane to generate energy. These misconceptions are:
- “Burning methane releases CO2 which will increase our carbon emissions.”
- “We should be focusing on renewable energy, not burning methane.”
- “When oil [and] gas companies flare methane, it removes methane anyway.”
- (Closely related to 3) “The benefits of generating power from flared gas are marginal.”
- “We should be using that flared gas for something more useful” – hospitals, residential heating, anything.
- “Oil companies will just use that money to do more oil exploration.”
- The largest methane polluter is agriculture. We should eat less meat to solve this problem.
Batten explains how each and every one of the aforementioned reasons is a miscalculated error and he believes bitcoin mining can reduce the world’s methane emissions even quicker than the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) carbon reduction goals.
“Bitcoin mining can eliminate 0.94 + 4.38 = 5.32% of all global emissions. This represents 23% of all global methane emissions: more than half the UNEP’s methane reduction target,” Batten’s study deduces. ESG Analyst Batten adds:
This means that Bitcoin mining could help us achieve our half-way goal to reduce methane. Bitcoin mining also has the potential to reduce humanity’s warming to 0.01% by 2045. No other technology can claim this, according to our knowledge.
Batten’s report called “Quantifying the Potential Impact of Bitcoin Mining on Global Methane Emissions” can be read in its entirety Here.
What do you think about Daniel Batten’s report on how bitcoin mining could be beneficial to the environment in contrast to the current narrative? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
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