- Bloomberg: The sustainable energy mix for Bitcoin is over 50% and rising
- Institutional investors are driven by global push away from fossil fuels
The Bitcoin network has continued to expand over the years and the hash rate is rising, but the Bitcoin mining industry has not seen its carbon footprint increase correspondingly. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Bloomberg analyst Jamie Coutts claims few industries can boast such an achievement.
Driving “the next wave” of institutional investment
Coutts cites data, according to which the sustainable energy combination for Bitcoin has not stopped increasing since 2021 and is now over 50%. This has resulted in emission growth declining relative to the network’s continued expansion. He told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin was scaling as a global monetary network, but its carbon impact was dropping, an achievement “few industries can claim.”
He adds that the dynamic relationship between the global push to move away from fossil fuels and Bitcoin network growth could generate “a wave of institutional and even sovereign investment capital.”
Next-gen miners focusing on alternative energy sources
According to Cointelegraph, the next generation of Bitcoin miners is aiming to enhance efficiency by focusing on alternative energy sources. Carbon intensity shows whether electric power is clean, while energy emissions refer to the air pollutants and greenhouse gases different activities emit as byproducts.
How sustainable has Bitcoin mining become?
The percent of sustainable energy Bitcoin miners use is a matter of debate. According to Cambridge University data current toward January 2022, mining from sustainable energy sources was just over a third at 37.6%.
However, it’s actually more than 50% according to Daniel Batten, a climate technology venture investor and activist. In an anX post, he claimed that Cambridge data was inaccurate because they didn’t include methane mitigation and off-grid mining in their calculations.
Batten has said that the intensity of Bitcoin mining emissions has never been as low as it is this year. He also predicts that the Bitcoin network will become carbon neutral just over a year from now.
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