Experts in energy, cryptocurrency, and other fields spoke Tuesday at the Wisconsin Energy Institutes Forward in Energy Forum about the potential benefits and harms of cryptocurrency on the environment.
Kyle McDonald is an artist who uses code to explore the potential and consequences of new technologies. McDonald’s is currently researching the ecological effects of Ethereum, a cryptocurrency. Created a projectIt can be quantified.
Proof of Work allows for the addition of new transactions to both Bitcoin and Ethereum. McDonald’s explained that this process ensures that transactions remain up-to-date on the blockchain or database as they are mined.
University partners with Gateway Technical College, Racine, to study autonomous vehiclesThe University of Wisconsin Traffic Operations and Safety Lab are studying autonomous vehicle technology with a new autonomous shuttle called Read…
McDonald’s says that mining can be described as solving complex mathematical puzzles. But, it sounds more honorable than actually it is. It’s really just about guessing random numbers as fast as possible. Consider the mining process that converts electricity to currency.
McDonald’s estimates that there are around 10 million computers worldwide that can convert electricity into Ether. McDonald’s also stated that cryptocurrencies based upon Proof of Work systems account for around 1% of global electricity consumption.
McDonald’s said that this amount of energy is problematic when it is generated from fossil fuels. He calculated the energy mix for different countries using a calculation that calculates how many grams of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere per kilowatt-hour.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin use virtual reality technology to reimagine scientific researchIn an age of increasing technology dependence, the University of Wisconsin’s Virtual Environments Group has been using virtual reality Read…
McDonald’s found that cryptocurrency was releasing seven million tons of CO2 per annum. A typical coal power station, he said produced around three megatons. The amount of energy used each year by 500,000 people in America could be compared to the emissions from cryptocurrency mining.
Chief Sustainability Officer DevvESG StreamingDestenie Nock suggested that blockchain technology could be used to verify carbon emission cuts.
Nock said that blockchain technology keeps track of transactions and data to ensure that data isn’t duplicated. This technology could be used by carbon credits to ensure they don’t get counted twice by different groups.
As we are moving towards a net-zero energy future, there’s a lot of data coming in and there’s a huge risk that people will be double-counting that data, Nock said. People often jump to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin when they hear about blockchain. Blockchain technology is a data-ledger. It can, you’ll be able to track and verify this data.