We may not think about the immediate consequence of our actions over the surroundings, but there are some results. Cryptocurrency might not seem to affect the environment but there will be some consequences. The mainstream financial world might not use cryptocurrency to a major extent but there are some crucial effects on nature as well.
Many skeptics and environmentalists have raised questions about the consumption of cryptocurrency that might lead to increased carbon emissions and change in the climate. Cryptocurrency has not been able to establish a proper stand in the trading world because of price volatility. However, environmental factors are being considered as well.
You must visit this link and keep in mind that they have an important role in the environment to play if they divulge too much in this technology.
Bitcoin mining affecting the environment
Cryptocurrency can be extracted from the blocks of this particular technology only with the aid of energy. Mining will always take up a huge amount of energy from the device which is being used. It must also be noted that any regular computer device cannot be used to mine the bitcoins. A computational race must be pursued to record the new blocks of information as well. The cryptographic puzzles are often devised to mine out the required bitcoins.
As you can guess, this might take up a huge amount of time. You cannot shut down your device in the middle of the process as well. The cryptographic puzzles take a large amount of time and this also leads to the usage of electricity. Now, imagine a condition in which everyone is trying to mine bitcoins from the blocks.
This will take up an enormous amount of energy throughout the world. Electricity is generated with the use of coal and other non-renewable sources of energy. This would lead to greater consumption of these energy sources. What will happen to the other areas which require energy sources as well?
Increased coal usage leads to carbon emissions
Most environmentalists have discussed the reduction of carbon footprints all around the world. All of the factors which have been mentioned in this are linked directly with the use of cryptocurrency. 65% of the use of cryptocurrency takes place in China which generates most of the electricity by burning coal.
Coal and any other fossil fuel are known for aiding cryptocurrency mining all around the world. However, burning coal and other fuels might lead to a significant contribution to carbon emissions around the world. It has been reported by CNBC that bitcoin mining agencies are presently releasing 35.95 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. This turns out to be a major contribution towards negative climate change as well.
Defense by the mining companies
It has been stated by the agencies which support bitcoin companies that the functionalities are often carried out on renewable sources of energy. This claim has the justification for the fact that miners are not fixed geographically. They might move to different areas to look out for surplus energy. Some of the Chinese mining firms are already moving from one power mining rig to another as well. They are continuously on the lookout for better and renewable sources of energy.
Conclusion
There are other environmental effects of cryptocurrency as well. Electronic waste and hardware loss are also considered as the loss of cryptocurrency. Specialized hardware is often used for mining activities but these are not long-lasting. They cannot be used for any other purpose as well. Digiconomist has mentioned that the next generation of bitcoin mining can lead to about 8 to 12 thousand tons of electronic waste every year. This is quite harmful as electronic wastes cannot decompose easily. Thus, it must be done carefully and within the scope of control.