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According to scientists, bitcoin mining has a negative impact on the environment – it produces 30 thousand tons of electronic waste annually
What’s going on
- According to analysts from the Netherlands Central Bank and scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, bitcoin mining leads to the formation of about 30,7 thousand tons of electronic waste per year. A study on the environmental impact of this process was published in the scientific journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
- The researchers note that bitcoin miners use equipment with a short lifespan, which generates a large amount of electronic garbage. First of all, this concerns advanced integrated circuits for special purposes – their average service life is 1,3 years.
- On average, one transaction processed on the blockchain in 2020 accounted for 272 g of electronic waste.
- In addition, bitcoin mining leaves a significant carbon footprint – cryptocurrency mining requires the same amount of electricity as a small European state (for example, the Netherlands), which leads to the release of about 23 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year.
- The researchers also traced the relationship between the price of bitcoin and the amount of e-waste produced by mining — at the peak values of the cryptocurrency value observed at the beginning of 2021, the volume of e-waste could be about 64,4 thousand tons.
What does it mean
E-waste is a growing threat to the environment. According to the World Health Organization, the volume of e-waste in 2019 amounted to 53,6 million tons (an increase of 21% compared to 2014), but only 17% was properly recycled. According to experts, due to the active use of electronic devices, by 2030 there will be 74 million tons of electronic waste in the world. Exposure to heavy metals contained in electronic devices can cause air and soil pollution, as well as contribute to the development of disorders of the nervous system and mental disorders.
In addition to electronic garbage, experts are concerned about the high level of electricity consumption when mining bitcoins. The non-environmental mining of cryptocurrency led to the fact that in May 2021, Elon Musk announced the suspension of paying for Tesla electric car purchases with bitcoins. However, according to a July report from the Mining Council, 56% of the electricity for bitcoin mining comes from renewable energy sources.