Coins that you do not see with your eyes or touch with your hands, rather they are numbers and symbols that you find on the computer screen. Each coin has a symbol or sign, but does not see or touch it mean that it does not affect the environment in any way?
Digital (crypto) currencies, especially Bitcoin, have been widely popular in most parts of the world after major investors traded them, led by Elon Musk, who promoted them in February and invested $1.5 billion in them. Which encouraged many people to buy it in the hope of making a quick profit.
But a storm has hit cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, recently after Elon Musk suspended accepting cryptocurrency as a way to pay for Tesla cars, "due to climate concerns," as well as China's imposition of new restrictions on its use.
However, a question may arise in our minds about the relationship of an intangible virtual digital currency to the climate, and how it causes significant environmental damage?
The answer lies in how to mine digital currencies.
Digital currency mining
Bitcoin mining is the process of creating a new currency by using computers to solve algorithms and decipher complex mathematical codes. Bitcoin users, euphemistically called "miners," store and record data and transactions in accounting chains, each called a "block chain," which is more like a public ledger in the accounting world.
The process of saving and recording data in the block chain requires computers with very high efficiency and effectiveness.
And since the currency is decentralized, that is, it is not subject to the control of governments. It is constantly updated by a network of purpose-built computers around the world.
Mining one bitcoin takes an average of about 10 minutes on the network to solve the complex program and process a block. The process ends up using a large amount of electrical energy due to the demand of many to mine the currency to get bitcoins in return and exemption from transaction processing fees.
China's relationship to carbon emissions
At first, “miners” could mine cryptocurrency using their personal computers, but as the price of digital currency rose, more efficient and efficient hardware was required, which meant more power consumption.
And 75 percent of bitcoin is mined in China, especially in rural areas, and two-thirds of the electricity consumed in China comes from coal, meaning that most of the electrical energy consumed for this purpose comes from a source that is harmful to the environment. The higher the price of Bitcoin, the higher the amount of energy consumed, and thus the increase in environmental pollution and carbon emissions that accelerate global warming.
The largest bitcoin mining facilities are currently located in China, which relies heavily on coal for electricity generation. This is due to its cheap electricity prices.
And Chinese experts published a study on the increasing energy consumption and carbon emissions resulting from the consumption of fossil fuels for electric power generation, and they found that "the energy consumption in the block chain used in mining is expected to reach annually in China, to 296.59 terawatt hours by 2024, which It results in 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of both the Czech Republic and Qatar.”
A report prepared by the University of Cambridge indicated that bitcoin mining consumes more than 120 terawatt hours per year, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of electrical energy for Malaysia, Sweden or Argentina.
Promising digital currencies that are less harmful to the environment?
Experts say that all cryptocurrencies are relatively harmful to the environment, but the impact of some is less, according to data centers TRG.
The company, which is based in Houston, Texas, says the XRP digital currency is less harmful, using 0.0079 kWh.
While the "Dogecoin" currency, which Elon Musk promoted a lot, consumes 0.12 kWh. As for Ethereum, it consumes 62.56 kWh.
Bitcoin, the most successful in the world of cryptocurrencies, is at the bottom of the list, consuming 707 kWh per hour.
What is the future of digital currency?
The cryptocurrency holder is “a good idea in many ways, very optimistic about the future” but believes that it should not be at the expense of the environment.
He said he "has no intention of selling the bitcoins that his company Tesla has bought and that it intends to use them in transactions once mining transitions to more sustainable energy" such as solar and wind power, and that it would look at other cryptocurrencies that use less than 1 percent of the energy used to mine Bitcoin.
However, his statements sparked widespread controversy on social media and he was criticized for his conflicting tweets.
“Elon Musk had a very brief relationship with Bitcoin, I think he didn't realize who he married to,” Alex Machinsky, founder and director of cryptocurrency firm Celsias, told BBC Trending. Bitcoin, so I think it was a premature divorce between Elon and Bitcoin, and I'm sure that cryptocurrency trading will do just fine without Elon Musk."