The use of sustainable energy for bitcoin mining has grown by almost 60% according to the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC).
In the last 12 months, electricity use in the sector has decreased by 25%.
The mining industry is rapidly adopting sustainable energy, according to a new report from the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC). According to Cointelegraph, the sustainable energy mix for the global bitcoin mining industry has grown by about 59% year over year.
The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) is a group of 44 bitcoin mining companies representing 50% of the global cryptocurrency network.
The committee estimates that the sustainable energy mix for the global bitcoin mining industry now stands at 58.4%, down 0.1% from the previous quarter. More importantly, this represents a significant increase over the 36.8% renewable energy estimate for Q1 2021.
However, Cointelegraph noted that the BMC was not set until June 2021, so it is unclear how it formulated its 36.8% renewable energy estimate figures for Q1 2021.
New data in the report explained by BMC members shows that they use 64.6% of the sustainable energy mix.
In the last 12 months, the industry’s energy consumption has decreased by 25%, while the hash rate has increased by 23% from 164.9 to 202.1, which equates to a 63% increase in mining efficiency since Q1 2021 compared to last year. BMC claims that Bitcoin mining is 5,814% more efficient than it was eight years ago.
What is the hash rate?
The hash rate is a measure of the Bitcoin network’s computing power. For security reasons, the Bitcoin network has to perform intensive mathematical operations. If the network achieves a hash rate of 10 TH/s, it means that it can perform 10 billion calculations per second.
Good news for the environment
“These improvements are appealing to institutions that see environmental impact as one of the main reasons not to invest in Bitcoin,” notes Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at GlobalBlock, a publicly trading holding company.
The news comes at a time when bitcoin has been criticized for its high energy consumption and carbon emissions, and the mining industry is keen to use cleaner energy or waste from other operations to counter criticism.
One of the biggest debates surrounding bitcoin mining is the pollution generated by the activity. There are opinions and information about it from institutions ranging from billionaire Elon Musk to Cambridge University, but even today it is difficult to know whether it pollutes more or less than other industries.
According to data from Cambridge University, Bitcoin mining uses the same amount of energy each year as countries like Argentina. However, a recent study by the research firm CoinShares shows that this activity only emits 0.08% of the total carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.
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