Bitcoin mining alone won’t save the planet from global warming, but it is a valuable tool for managing some of the challenges of the energy transition. According to a recent report from Christian Stoll, Lena Klaaßen, Ulrich Gallersdörfer and Alexander Neumüller, “Bitcoin has unique properties that make it good at supporting revenue for renewable energy projects right now.” Margot Paez, a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, head of sustainability at Block Green and a sustainability and bitcoin mining consultant, explains that “Bitcoin’s greatest impact on climate change will not come from mining but from the network’s original raison d’être.”
Bitcoin mining won’t push global warming past two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels all on its own. In fact, even if we banned bitcoin mining today, humanity would still be well on track to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming in the next decade. Bitcoin mining, based on CBECI estimates, accounts for roughly 0.14% of total global emissions.
Bitcoin mining won’t be the sole catalyst that increases the rise in exponential growth in renewable energy. Nor will it push us over the finish line for meeting our decarbonization goals. Bitcoin miners active in demand response programs are helping minimize strain on the electrical grid during severe weather emergencies. There are bitcoin mining companies that are selling their waste heat to greenhouses or working on using it for municipal heating. Some miners are mitigating methane emissions in the oil and gas industry and there are a few trying to prove the business case for landfill and agricultural waste gases.
Bitcoin’s greatest impact on climate change will not come from mining but from the network’s original raison d’être. Climate change will and is destabilizing society with its unpredictable but increasingly probable effects on our food production, water resources, and infrastructure. Bitcoin can preserve economic liberty and with that, human rights.