# Crypto Mining is Harmful to the Environment
Bitcoin [mining](../concepts/mining.md) is enormously harmful to the environment, the design of the Proof of Work (PoW) [consensus algorithm](../concepts/consensus-algorithm.md) is energy wasteful as part of its design. There are three factors that give rise to its inordinate environmental footprint which is incommensurate with its generated utility.

1. E-waste from discarded or broken ASIC mining equipment, graphics cards and servers.
2. Carbon release from fossil fuels used to power mining data centres
3. Opportunity cost of the energy used to run [consensus algorithm](../concepts/consensus-algorithm.md) compared to more efficient of efficient [real time gross settlement systems](../concepts/rtgs.md) and traditional [payment rails](is-transnational-payment.md) such as SWIFT, SEPA, Visa and ACH.

Crypto assets are not [providing access to the unbanked](is-crypto-unbanked.md) and cannot fulfil even a tiny fraction of the services provided by the global banking sector. Crypto assets like [bitcoin](../concepts/bitcoin.md) are simply a very inefficient and settlement to issue a speculative [cryptoasset](../concepts/cryptoasset.md) used primarily for [gambling](../concepts/gambling.md) and [illicit financing](../concepts/illicit-financing.md).

BItcoin mining has the equivalent power consumption of the state of Argentina, a country with a population of 45 million people. Bitcoin mining has an e-waste footprint comparable to that of entire population of Germany.

Bitcoin mining collectively consumes more power than all data centres run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Facebook and YouTube put together.

Bitcoin is simply one of thousands of crypto assets which use PoW algorithm, including the second largest asset Ethereum which together with all other assets sum to an even larger and difficult to calculate environmental footprint.

## References
1. Ahl, Amanda, Masaru Yarime, Kenji Tanaka, and Daishi Sagawa. ‘Review of Blockchain-Based Distributed Energy: Implications for Institutional Development’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 107 (2019): 200–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.03.002.
1. Amenta, Carlo, E Riva Sanseverino, and Carlo Stagnaro. ‘Regulating Blockchain for Sustainability? The Critical Relationship between Digital Innovation, Regulation, and Electricity Governance’. Energy Research & Social Science 76 (2021): 102060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102060.
1. Ante, L., F. Steinmetz, and I. Fiedler. ‘Blockchain and Energy: A Bibliometric Analysis and Review’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 137, no. October 2020 (2021): 110597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110597.
1. Badea, Liana, and Mariana Claudia Mungiu-Pupazan. ‘The Economic and Environmental Impact of Bitcoin’. IEEE Access 9 (2021): 48091–104. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3068636.
1. Benetton, Matteo, Giovanni Compiani, and Adair Morse. ‘When Cryptomining Comes to Town: High Electricity-Use Spillovers to the Local Economy’. SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3779720.
1. Bogensperger, Alexander, Andreas Zeiselmair, Michael Hinterstocker, Patrick Dossow, Johannes Hilpert, Maximilian Wimmer, Carsten von Gneisenau, et al. ‘Welche Zukunft Hat Die Blockchain-Technologie in Der Energiewirtschaft?’, 2021. https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/237670.
1. Brilliantova, Vlada, and Thomas Wolfgang Thurner. ‘Blockchain and the Future of Energy’. Technology in Society 57 (2019): 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.11.001.
1. Buth, M C (Annemarie), A J (Anna) Wieczorek, and G P J (Geert) Verbong. ‘The Promise of Peer-to-Peer Trading? The Potential Impact of Blockchain on the Actor Configuration in the Dutch Electricity System’. Energy Research & Social Science 53 (2019): 194–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.02.021.
1. Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm. ‘Conjuring a Cooler World? Blockchains, Imaginaries and the Legitimacy of Climate Governance’. Global Cooperation Research Papers 28 (2021). https://doi.org/doi:10.14282/2198-0411-GCRP-28.
1. Diehl, Stephen. ‘The Crypto Chernobyl’, 10 February 2021. https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/chernobyl.html.
1. Dindar, B., and Ö. Gül. ‘The Detection of Illicit Cryptocurrency Mining Farms with Innovative Approaches for the Prevention of Electricity Theft’. Energy & Environment, no. April (2021): 0958305X211045066. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x211045066.
1. Dorfleitner, Gregor, Franziska Muck, and Isabel Scheckenbach. ‘Blockchain Applications for Climate Protection: A Global Empirical Investigation’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 149, no. June (October 2021): 111378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111378.
1. Gallersdörfer, Ulrich, Lena Klaaßen, and Christian Stoll. ‘Accounting for Carbon Emissions Caused by Cryptocurrency and Token Systems’, 2021. https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.06477.
1. ———. ‘Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin’. Joule, 2020.
1. Gallersdörfer, Ulrich, Lena Klaaßen, Christian Stoll, Ulrich Gallersdo, Lena Klaaßen, Christian Stoll, and Ulrich Gallersdo. ‘Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin’. Joule 4, no. 2018 (September 2020): 2018–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.013.
1. Goodkind, Andrew L, Benjamin A Jones, and Robert P Berrens. ‘Cryptodamages: Monetary Value Estimates of the Air Pollution and Human Health Impacts of Cryptocurrency Mining’. Energy Research & Social Science 59 (2020): 101281.
1. Goodkind, Andrew L., Benjamin A. Jones, and Robert P. Berrens. ‘Cryptodamages: Monetary Value Estimates of the Air Pollution and Human Health Impacts of Cryptocurrency Mining’. Energy Research and Social Science 59, no. March 2019 (2020): 101281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101281.
1. Greenberg, Pierce, and Dylan Bugden. ‘Energy Consumption Boomtowns in the United States: Community Responses to a Cryptocurrency Boom’. Energy Research and Social Science 50, no. December 2018 (2019): 162–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.12.005.
1. Howson, Peter. ‘Building Trust and Equity in Marine Conservation and Fisheries Supply Chain Management with Blockchain’. Marine Policy 115 (May 2020): 103873. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MARPOL.2020.103873.
1. ———. ‘Climate Crises and Crypto-Colonialism: Conjuring Value on the Blockchain Frontiers of the Global South’. Frontiers in Blockchain 3, no. May (2020). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00022.
1. ———. ‘Distributed Degrowth Technology: Challenges for Blockchain beyond the Green Economy’. Ecological Economics 184, no. June 2020 (June 2021): 107020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107020.
1. ———. ‘Tackling Climate Change with Blockchain’. Nature Climate Change 9, no. 9 (2019): 644–45. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0567-9.
1. Howson, Peter, Sarah Oakes, Zachary Baynham-Herd, and Jon Swords. ‘Cryptocarbon: The Promises and Pitfalls of Forest Protection on a Blockchain’. Geoforum 100, no. February 2019 (2019): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.02.011.
1. Howson, Peter, and Alex de Vries. ‘Preying on the Poor? Opportunities and Challenges for Tackling the Social and Environmental Threats of Cryptocurrencies for Vulnerable and Low-Income Communities’. Energy Research and Social Science 84, no. xxxx (2022): 102394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102394.
1. Hull, Jed, Aarti Gupta, and Sanneke Kloppenburg. ‘Interrogating the Promises and Perils of Climate Cryptogovernance: Blockchain Discourses in International Climate Politics’. Earth System Governance 9 (2021): 100117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100117.
1. Huston, Jacob. ‘The Energy Consumption of Bitcoin Mining and Potential for Regulation’. George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law 11, no. 1 (2020): 32–41. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/gwjeel11&section=6.
1. Jana, Rabin K., Indranil Ghosh, Debojyoti Das, and Anupam Dutta. ‘Determinants of Electronic Waste Generation in Bitcoin Network: Evidence from the Machine Learning Approach’. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 173 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121101.
1. Koomey, Jonathan, and Eric Masanet. ‘Does Not Compute: Avoiding Pitfalls Assessing the Internet’s Energy and Carbon Impacts’. Joule 5, no. 7 (2021): 1625–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.05.007.
1. Küfeoğlu, Sinan, and Mahmut Özkuran. ‘Bitcoin Mining: A Global Review of Energy and Power Demand’. Energy Research and Social Science 58 (2019): 101273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101273.
1. Li, Jingming, Nianping Li, Jinqing Peng, Haijiao Cui, and Zhibin Wu. ‘Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrency Mining: A Study of Electricity Consumption in Mining Cryptocurrencies’. Energy 168 (2019): 160–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.046.
1. ———. ‘Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrency Mining: A Study of Electricity Consumption in Mining Cryptocurrencies’. Energy 168 (2019): 160–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.046.
1. McDonald, Kyle. ‘Ethereum Emissions: A Bottom-up Estimate’, 2021. http://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01238.
1. Miglani, Arzoo, Neeraj Kumar, Vinay Chamola, and Sherali Zeadally. ‘Blockchain for Internet of Energy Management: Review, Solutions, and Challenges’. Computer Communications 151 (2020): 395–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2020.01.014.
1. Mollah, Muhammad Baqer, Jun Zhao, Dusit Niyato, Kwok Yan Lam, Xin Zhang, Amer M.Y.M. Ghias, Leong Hai Koh, and Lei Yang. ‘Blockchain for Future Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Survey’. IEEE Internet of Things Journal 8, no. 1 (2021): 18–43. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2020.2993601.
1. Mora, Camilo, Randi L Rollins, Katie Taladay, Michael B Kantar, Mason K Chock, Mio Shimada, and Erik C Franklin. ‘Bitcoin Emissions Alone Could Push Global Warming above 2 C’. Nature Climate Change 8, no. 11 (2018): 931–33.
1. Náñez Alonso, Sergio Luis, Javier Jorge‐vázquez, Miguel Ángel Echarte Fernández, and Ricardo Francisco Reier Forradellas. ‘Cryptocurrency Mining from an Economic and Environmental Perspective. Analysis of the Most and Least Sustainable Countries’. Energies 14, no. 14 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144254.
1. Okorie, David I. ‘A Network Analysis of Electricity Demand and the Cryptocurrency Markets’. International Journal of Finance and Economics 26, no. 2 (2021): 3093–3108. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.1952.
1. Peplow, Mark. ‘Bitcoin Poses Major Electronic-Waste Problem’. Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society, March 2019. http://cen.acs.org/environment/sustainability/Bitcoin-poses-major-electronic-waste/97/i11.
1. Petri, Ioan, Masoud Barati, Yacine Rezgui, and Omer F Rana. ‘Blockchain for Energy Sharing and Trading in Distributed Prosumer Communities’. Computers in Industry 123 (2020): 103282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2020.103282.
1. Platt, Moritz, Johannes Sedlmeir, Daniel Platt, Jiahua Xu, Paolo Tasca, Nikhil Vadgama, and Juan Ignacio Ibanez. ‘Energy Footprint of Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms Beyond Proof-of-Work’, 2021. https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.03667.
1. Qin, Shize, Lena Klaaßen, Ulrich Gallersdörfer, Christian Stoll, and Da Zhang. ‘Bitcoin’s Future Carbon Footprint’, 2020. http://arxiv.org/abs/2011.02612.
1. Scharnowski, Stefan, and Yanghua Shi. ‘Bitcoin Blackout: Proof-of-Work and the Centralization of Mining’. SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3936787.
1. Schinckus, Christophe. ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: An Overview of the Sustainability of Blockchain Technology’. Energy Research and Social Science 69, no. May (2020): 101614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101614.
1. Schneiders, Alexandra, and David Shipworth. ‘Community Energy Groups: Can They Shield Consumers from the Risks of Using Blockchain for Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading?’ Energies 14, no. 12 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123569.
1. Schulz, Karsten, and Marian Feist. ‘Leveraging Blockchain Technology for Innovative Climate Finance under the Green Climate Fund’. SSRN Electronic Journal 7 (2020): 100084. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3663176.
1. Sedlmeir, Johannes, Hans Ulrich Buhl, Gilbert Fridgen, and Robert Keller. ‘Ein Blick Auf Aktuelle Entwicklungen Bei Blockchains Und Deren Auswirkungen Auf Den Energieverbrauch’. Informatik-Spektrum 43, no. 6 (2020): 391–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00287-020-01321-z.
1. Sedlmeir, Johannes, Hans Ulrich, Buhl Gilbert, and Robert Keller. ‘The Energy Consumption of Blockchain Technology : Beyond Myth’. Business & Information Systems Engineering 62, no. 6 (2020): 599–608. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-020-00656-x.
1. Stoll, Christian, Lena Klaaßen, and Ulrich Gallersdörfer. ‘The Carbon Footprint of Bitcoin’. Joule 3, no. 7 (2019): 1647–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2019.05.012.
1. Teng, Fei, Qi Zhang, Ge Wang, Jiangfeng Liu, and Hailong Li. ‘A Comprehensive Review of Energy Blockchain: Application Scenarios and Development Trends’. International Journal of Energy Research 45, no. 12 (2021): 17515–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.7109.
1. Teufel, Bernd, Anton Sentic, and Mathias Barmet. ‘Blockchain Energy: Blockchain in Future Energy Systems’. Journal of Electronic Science and Technology 17, no. 4 (2019): 100011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnlest.2020.100011.
1. Truby, Jon. ‘Decarbonizing Bitcoin: Law and Policy Choices for Reducing the Energy Consumption of Blockchain Technologies and Digital Currencies’. Energy Research and Social Science 44, no. June (2018): 399–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.06.009.
1. Valdivia, A. Diaz, and M. Poblet Balcell. ‘Connecting the Grids: A Review of Blockchain Governance in Distributed Energy Transitions’. Energy Research and Social Science 84 (2022): 102383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102383.
1. Vries, Alex De. ‘Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption Is Underestimated : A Market Dynamics Approach’. Energy Research & Social Science 70, no. July (2020): 101721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101721.
1. Vries, Alex de. ‘Bitcoin’s Growing Energy Problem’. Joule 2, no. 5 (2018): 801–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.016.
1. Vries, Alex de, and Christian Stoll. ‘Bitcoin’s Growing e-Waste Problem’. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 175, no. September (2021): 105901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105901.
1. Wanat, Emanuel. ‘Are Crypto-Assets Green Enough? – An Analysis of Draft EU Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets from the Perspective of the European Green Deal’. Osteuropa Recht 67, no. 2 (2021): 237–50. https://doi.org/10.5771/0030-6444-2021-2-237.
1. Yan, Lei, Nawazish Mirza, and Muhammad Umar. ‘The Cryptocurrency Uncertainties and Investment Transitions: Evidence from High and Low Carbon Energy Funds in China’. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2021, 121326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121326.
1. Yapa, Charithri, Chamitha de Alwis, and Madhusanka Liyanage. ‘Can Blockchain Strengthen the Energy Internet?’ Network 1, no. 2 (2021): 95–115. https://doi.org/10.3390/network1020007.
1. Yildizbasi, Abdullah. ‘Blockchain and Renewable Energy: Integration Challenges in Circular Economy Era’. Renewable Energy 176 (2021): 183–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.053.
1. Zannini, Alice. ‘Blockchain Technology as the Digital Enabler to Scale up Renewable Energy Communities and Cooperatives in Spain’, 2020.
1. Zhu, Shuai, Malin Song, Ming Kim Lim, Jianlin Wang, and Jiajia Zhao. ‘The Development of Energy Blockchain and Its Implications for China’s Energy Sector’. Resources Policy 66 (2020): 101595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101595.