It is well-known that cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive process. Residents of New York State recently wrote to the governor urging him to evaluate mining licenses granted to crypto firms. Greenidge Generating Station and Fortistar North Tonawanda are among the names.
Additionally, the petitioners requested that a statewide prohibition on proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency mining be implemented. While the industry remains questionable in New York, Pennsylvania-based bitcoin miner Stronghold Digital Mining made its Nasdaq debut shortly afterward.
Contrary to environmental concerns, Stronghold’s CEO Greg Beard claimed, “At the moment, bitcoin mining is the most economically viable use of that electricity.” He asserted this in light of Stronghold’s argument that it was simply mining waste coal. Beard said in a recent interview with Nasdaq,
“Prior to 1975, it was lawful and permissible to utilize excellent coal to generate electricity and steel.” He went on to explain that the approach resulted in the marginal low-quality coal being dumped beside the mines. As a result, he noted, it is critical to clean up this debris. Beard also said that the issue arises anywhere there is coal extraction. As he said,
“We are recovering and remediating a legacy issue from Pennsylvania’s decades of coal extraction.” Having said that, Beard observed that there are other obstacles since some of these garbage mounds “are about half the size of Central Park.” As a result, reclamation will take another 30 odd years at the present pace of remediation.
According to data, New York, Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas attracted the most miners in the United States. While the move was prompted by China’s restriction on Bitcoin mining, another party benefited.
Additionally, Kazakhstan, which has surpassed China as the world’s second-biggest bitcoin mining location, has begun limiting electricity during blackouts. According to a local study, bitcoin data centers use 5 MW of electricity every hour. This is comparable to the monthly use of almost 24 thousand medium-sized dwellings, according to energy ministry figures.
In contrast to the United States, where other forms of energy are gradually displacing coal, Kazakhstan remains heavily dependent on coal and natural gas. With such high energy demands, what other options are there besides burning “waste coal?”
Senator Ted Cruz claimed during the October Blockchain Summit in Texas that Texas had “abundant energy.” He emphasized the need of capturing the wind’s energy and the natural gas flaring in West Texas. “We catch that gas rather than burning it,” he had said. Having said that, the co-founder of JAI Energy recently mentioned in a tweet how BTC mining benefits oil and gas companies.
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