Conversion of methane to carbon dioxide
Daniel Patten, a renowned environmental, social and governance analyst (ESG) and bitcoin investor, said bitcoin mining could significantly reduce the amount of methane concentrations in the atmosphere.
Patten says removing the equivalent of one ton of methane emissions is more effective than avoiding the same amount of carbon dioxide. Its plan is to convert methane into carbon dioxide, using it to power bitcoin mining.
"You can do this by finding leaked methane and burning it clean to generate electricity," Patten explained in a long thread on April 29 on Twitter.
In doing so, you get + 80 points to remove methane, but you get a one-point penalty for the remaining CO2, so it's still 79 times more effective than removing CO2 from our atmosphere.
Methane is produced :
mainly in landfills and in agriculture, especially during the cow's digestive processes. Human activities such as driving cars and oil and gas fields also cause methane emissions. However, once burned, methane disintegrates into non-greenhouse gas products.
Bitcoin miners began experimenting with the use of so-called "stranded gas"
- flaming and explosive natural gas from the oil industry
- to power their mining platforms.
- Usually, this is the gas that will either be lost or burned.
- Patten says miners can add to this energy produced from landfills.
If bitcoin miners :
are used in oilfields and landfills all over the world, they will reduce our global emissions by a staggering 8.5 percent: 1.5 percent for oilfields and 7% for landfills, Patten explained.
Patten adds that the amount of methane in the world has been underestimated, citing NASA data that says the world has reduced methane emissions from oil and gas by 40 per cent. He says the landfill gas was 127% less than necessary.
BTC power consumption behind banking industry
- Climate change, according to scientists, is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
- Now, bitcoin is mining in the matrix. Some academics
- and economists have criticized the process by which new bitcoins, often called mining
- are created claiming to fuel climate change.
They say mining consumes a lot of electricity generated from fossil fuels such as coal, a major source of carbon emissions.
For example, Fairplanet argues that "every Bitcoin transaction uses about 2100 kilowatt hours (kWh), which is roughly what the American family consumes on average in 75 days."
Much is said about the use of electricity, which includes old monopolistic financial institutions such as commercial lenders.
- In August 2018, Dr. Katrina M. Kelly Beto
- a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh
- published her article entitled "Stop worrying about how much energy bitcoin uses"
which addresses the idea that mining is inherently an energy waste. They therefore pose a threat to the environment.
Regarding the much-cited estimate that "BTC mining used 30 TWh in 2017" - like Ireland, she explained
"That's a lot, but it's not expensive. Banks consume an estimated 100 terawatts of energy annually. If bitcoin matures more than 100 times its current market size, it will still be worth only 2% of total energy consumption
Methane Don't Get Out of Prison Card for Bitcoin
However, Patten also asserts that methane emissions are not a "prison card exit" for bitcoin.
He urged that :
"we need to reduce methane and carbon dioxide together." While methane is more deadly, carbon dioxide is more widespread. Reducing our emissions by 50% is therefore critical. "
Willy Wu, a bitcoin analyst who looks at nuances in data extraction and the environment, said there was a need to revisit studies claiming that cryptocurrency mining is bad for the climate.
"If you believe bitcoin :
is bad for the environment, look into it more." Wu tweeted, citing Patten's argument, it's our best technology to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources.
Comments
Post a Comment