Energy Use in Bitcoin Mining
eBook - ePub

Energy Use in Bitcoin Mining

The Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies

  1. 188 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Energy Use in Bitcoin Mining

The Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies

About this book

This book provides a unique introduction to Bitcoin mining's energy use and environmental impacts. Bitcoin, the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency, has ignited the world of decentralized finance and digital currencies. However, Bitcoin has a major problem: it uses massive amounts of energy to produce or 'mine' the coins, and this energy use has tremendous environmental consequences. By recent estimates, Bitcoin mining's global electricity use is larger than entire countries such as the Netherlands and Argentina. In this book, the authors explain the process by which Bitcoin is mined, why it requires significant energy, and what we know about where that energy comes from. It also explores the environmental impacts and associated monetary damages of this energy use. Further, the book presents the current state of scientific knowledge around these questions and provides original economic damage estimates from the authors and compares them to those of other goods and services. The book discusses links between Bitcoin and climate change, public health, air pollution, 'e-waste', water, and land use. It concludes by discussing alternative ways in which Bitcoin mining can be made green by using less energy, as well as the policy and regulatory challenges that may hinder progress toward this goal. Innovative and insightful, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and industry professionals who are researching and working in the areas of cryptocurrencies, economics, business and finance, engineering, energy, and environmental studies more broadly.

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Yes, you can access Energy Use in Bitcoin Mining by Benjamin A. Jones,Andrew Goodkind,Robert P. Berrens,Andrew L. Goodkind in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Economics & Finance. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Year
2025
eBook ISBN
9781040343869
Edition
0
Subtopic
Finance

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Series
  4. Title
  5. Copyright
  6. Contents
  7. About the authors
  8. Preface
  9. 1 What is Bitcoin and how is it mined?
  10. 2 A feature and not a bug: Bitcoin mining’s energy use problem
  11. 3 Bitcoin’s climate emissions and damages
  12. 4 Bitcoin’s PM2.5 air pollution damages
  13. 5 How does Bitcoin’s climate footprint compare to other things?
  14. 6 Bitcoin mining’s additional environmental impacts
  15. 7 Can Bitcoin be made green?
  16. 8 Bitcoin mining regulation and its discontents
  17. Index