NFTs Have a Climate Problem
Making the digital artworks requires colossal amounts of computing power, and that means greenhouse gases.
April 14, 2021, 1:23 p.m. ET
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By Hiroko Tabuchi
You’ve probably noticed a lot of buzz over the past few weeks about nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, the digital artworks that are stamped with unique codes. Last month, one of them sold for more than $69 million at a Christie’s online auction.
NFTs are shaking up the art world They may be warming the planet, too nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
They May Be Warming the Planet, Too.
Making the digital artworks requires colossal amounts of computing power, and that means greenhouse gases.
When Chris Precht, an Austrian architect and artist, first learned about nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles taking the art world by storm, he was so enthralled, he said, he “felt like a little kid again.”
So Mr. Precht, who is known for his work on ecological architecture, was devastated to learn that the artworks, known as NFTs, have an environmental footprint as mind-boggling as the gold-rush frenzy they’ve whipped up.
“The numbers are just crushing,” he said from his studio in Pfarrwerfen, Austria, announcing that he was canceling his plans, one of a growing number of artists who are swearing off NFTs, despite the sky-high sums some have fetched at auctions. “As much as it hurts financially and mentally, I can’t.”
Austrian architecture studio Precht has used more than 7,000 handmade bricks to form the floors, walls and stepped seating in % Arabica's Bangkok outpost.