China’s lucrative bitcoin mines risk derailing climate goals
By
AFP | 8 April, 2021
China’s electricity-hungry bitcoin mines that power nearly 80% of the global trade in cryptocurrencies, risk undercutting the country’s climate goals, according to a study in the journal
Nature this week.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are minted by solving puzzles using powerful computers that consume enormous amounts of electricity – much of it produced by coal plants. The
Nature study found that if left unchecked, China’s bitcoin mines will generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2024 – close to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from an entire country like Italy or oil-rich Saudi Arabia.