Hello Dear Steemians,
Today I will share an article about cryptocurrency mining and renewable energy. I will share an important point from this article.
Source: Canva
This article was written by Sean Ratka and Francisco Boshell from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Title of the article: "Cryptocurrency mining and renewable energy: Friend or foe?"
The authors have defined the process of blockchain technology in the first part of the article. According to their sources, "the Bitcoin network’s current annualized electricity consumption totals about 145 TWh, distributed among all miners globally, accounting for about 0.65% of total global electricity consumption."
As we know the share of mining is being powered by renewables. According to Cambridge Report, "on average 39% of proof-of-work mining is powered by renewable energy, primarily hydroelectric energy."
In addition, the share of renewable energy in the mining process is increasing. Miners prefer regions where renewable energy is less costly. There are migrations to these regions where renewable energy is cheap. Thus, every new development in the cryptocurrency market will also contribute to renewable energy consumption.
Figure 1: Renewable energy costs declined rapidly over the last 10 years
Source: IRENA
The authors also analyzed data centers' position. According to them, "Data centers also rely heavily on electricity to power their servers and cooling" and they gave some strategies about data centers;
- "locating data centers in locations with abundant and cheap renewable electricity as well as in locations with colder climates where power needed for cooling is minimized;
- enabling data centers to provide services in power flexibility markets through intelligent load shifting and battery storage;
- leveraging sector coupling, including supplying local district heating systems with waste heat;
- and the use of machine learning to optimize operations and increase energy efficiency, largely via intelligent cooling."
Last part of this article about the way forward. This part underlying that blockchain and PoW technology will continue. And they need energy sources. I want to complete my post with these sentences: "The added attention cryptocurrencies affords can be used as a catalyst to achieve a 100% share of renewables in the power sector, making cryptocurrency mining a potential accelerator, not a roadblock, of an energy transition centered around renewables."
Have a good day,