Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency network that uses proof-of-work to process transactions and protect the protocol’s security, has been subject to a lot criticism over the past year. Coinshares, a cryptocurrency company published this week a report showing that talk points condemning the network’s electrical consumption were greatly exaggerated. Coinshares data shows that Bitcoin’s mining infrastructure is responsible for 0. 08% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) production today.

Despite ESG Critics Studies Show that ‘Bitcoin mining Acts as an Energy Sink and Consumes Less Energy than the Banking Industry

There has been a lot disapproval from people who believe that the Bitcoin network is harmful to the environment. Many people have condemned Bitcoin’s PoW as they feel it consumes too much energy to keep the network strong. Although, the critics never discuss the U.S. dollar’s energy consumption and how it is also enforced by state violence. Data derived from Digiconomist websites can also be used by detractors to show extreme biases and inaccuracies. For example, the web portal is operated by Alex de Vries, an employee of De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB).

Despite criticisms from critics, many reports have shown that Bitcoin’s energy use is much lower than other financial systems. In May 2021, Galaxy Digital published a study on the energy consumption of bitcoin mining, and it found it was far less than the energy the gold or banking industry consumes. Galaxy Digital described how companies such as Crusoe Energy Systems, Upstream Data and Great American Mining use methane emissions to turn waste flare gas into energy. Galaxy Digital’s study notes are

Bitcoin mining is the ideal energy sink: anyone, anywhere, can monetize excess energy by plugging in equipment and switching it off at their convenience. Bitcoin mining can be used as an energy sink in the oil fields. This results in a reduction in methane emissions.

Coinshares: ‘Bitcoin Will Be 100% Renewable as Soon as Our Electricity Generation Is 100% Renewable’

This week Coinshares published its bitcoin mining report, a study that provides the most current data concerning the state of the bitcoin mining industry alongside environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. The Coinshares report estimates the Bitcoin protocol emitted 42 megatons of CO2 in 2021.

The study highlights that the earth’s total emissions in 2019 amount to 49,360 megatons of CO2. The network’s mining infrastructure accounts for 0. 08% of the world’s carbon dioxide, Bitcoin’s energy draw is also 0. 05% of the total energy consumed globally. According to the Coinshares study:

As a point of reference, total global energy consumption (not production, which is considerably higher) in 2019 has been estimated at 162,194 TWh. At an annual energy draw of 89 TWh, the Bitcoin mining network uses approximately 0. 05% of the total energy consumed globally. This seems like a low cost for a global financial system. On the global energy balance sheet it amounts to an error.

ESG concerns have prompted many companies to discontinue bitcoin support or even consider dropping bitcoin in future. For instance, the software community Mozilla paused the ability to donate cryptocurrencies over “environmental impact” concerns. Tesla also dropped bitcoin acceptance because of its impact on the environment. Following Mozilla, the Wikimedia Foundation considered dropping crypto donations for the same reasons and Wikimedia members leveraged the Digiconomist’s inaccurate data that has been debunked on many occasions over bias and data discrepancies.

The bitcoin mining report published by Coinshares this week shows that the ESG concerns over the last 12 months have been greatly exaggerated. Coinshares believes that current attention should be focused more on renewable energy resources than on a monetary innovation with a low emission rate and high energy draw.

” While it is obvious that bitcoin mining has created emissions, they are not insignificant globally and are not necessary to generate electricity. “Bitcoin will be 100% renewable as soon as our electricity generation is 100% renewable. We should not be focusing on the suppression of development of monetary technology .

What do you think about the report published by Coinshares that shows the Bitcoin network’s emissions account for only around 0. 08% of the world’s carbon dioxide production today? Comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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