Cryptocurrency mining and environmentalists don’t generally go together in discussions about the blockchain industry’s progress, but one tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk was enough to get the crypto community concerned.
Recent research used data from Statista, Business Insider India, and Laptop Mag to calculate how harmful cryptocurrencies are, as well as the anticipated carbon emissions and resources required to mitigate their effects.
They gathered data, as they describe in the report. They calculated carbon emissions and their increase rate after compiling the data.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash: On the Bottom of the Table
Bitcoin and Ethereum, as predicted, are the two most polluting networks on the earth. They also have the most hash power. Bitcoin alone released 56.8 million tons of CO2 in 2021, more than two and a half times the amount emitted by Etherum. According to corporate calculations, it would take around 284.1 million trees to offset all of the harmful gas released by BTC miners.
Ethereum, on the other hand, emits far less pollution, yet its performance is far from ideal: So far this year, Ethereum miners have produced 22 million tons of CO2, necessitating the planting of around 110 million new trees to offset the damage.
With just 1.5 million tons of CO2, Bitcoin Cash, a Bitcoin split created in 2017 with the purpose of mining for bigger blocks (leading in an even more polluting network), comes third on the list. However, it is the network with the biggest year-over-year increase in emissions, with a 748 percent increase in toxic gases.
According to the report, Bitcoin mining has reduced pollution levels by 5%, owing to miners’ relocation from China and its thermoelectric power to nations with greener energy sources, such as the United States.
