What is the most sustainable form of Bitcoin? Mining? (Consensus 2023 After Hours)

What is the most sustainable form of Bitcoin? Mining? (Consensus 2023 After Hours)

There was a lot about the energy consumption of Bitcoin and about how many power miners will probably consume in the long term. But where should this electricity come from - environmentally friendly renewable energies or "dirty" hydrocarbons such as coal and natural gas?

On Wednesday evening, bitcoiners came together in a suite near Consensus 2023 to discuss this question.

The hydrocarbon side

The debate that took place as part of the Bitcoin Commons Nakamoto Forum debate series examined whether "hydrocarbons are the most sustainable energy source for the breakdown of Bitcoin", as it was said in their resolution.

Steve Barbour- founder of the oil and gas mining company Upstream Data- spoke out for the application. Jesse Peltan - co -founder of the mining company Hodl Ranch, operated with renewable energies - argued against it.

Barbour argued that the sun and wind are "garbage" sources of industrial power generation, while hydrocarbons offer the most sustainable path to thrive-especially in connection with Bitcoin mining.

"A reason why they are so cheap is that it is only part of the stack," he said. "It is one of many by -products that we cannot get rid of."

Barbour also pointed out the unreliability of electricity generation from renewable energies and the advantages of hydrocarbons that enable humans to use them individually to generate electricity.

Bitcoin mining sustainability debate at Bitcoin Commons (Consensus 2023). Barbour: left; Peltan: correct.

The renewable page

Peltan, on the other hand, claimed that due to the sheer, the amount of energy they deliver will inevitably use to use renewable energies.

"hydrocarbons limit the total amount of energy that is available for use," he said. Ultimately, the entire latent energy of the earth, which is saved in the soil and in the atmosphere, amounts to only 3 years of sunlight.

Peltan added that fossil fuels will continue to lose importance for renewable energies and that 90 % of the Bitcoin miners are finally operated with renewable sources.

The audience of the debate was initially divided with regard to the topic, divided into rough thirds, whether they agreed, did not agree, did not agree or felt undecided. After that, seven votes went to Peltan, which made him the winner of the debate.

The Bitcoin Mining Council regularly examines the largest Bitcoin mining farms worldwide and finds that more than half of them are currently supplying their systems from green sources. Certain lobby campaigns have tried to present Bitcoin mining as somewhat deeply in an environmentally harmful way, but the community consistently rejects such attacks.

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