The gradual shiftThe promise of cyberspace, the future of life beyond the three-dimensional space that was once promised.Jetsons-style efficiency is a simple transition from physical things environment-harming ways to clean and impact-free digital environments. We would telecommute in cyberspace, rather than driving on polluting roads in polluting vehicles. We would work in paperless offices in which no trees were cut to print memos or correspondence. Instead of using coins made from metals mined, we would switch to digital currencies.
The JetsonsIt was a good guess. The Zoom Boom, which was sparked by COVID, has made many physical offices vacant and drastically reduced the commute time. More coins and cash are passing. When was the last paper interoffice memo you received? However, the pressure on the physical environment has not been lifted by the mass migration from digital to physical. Because what happens in cyberspace does not stay in cyberspace.
Every email sent to the office, every social media post, every credit card transaction, and every telecommuter call must be processed by physical computers that use real energy and water, and have real environmental impact. Even cryptocurrency, or Bitcoin without a physical presence, must be mined in a energy-efficient manner.Intensive way
Thousands upon thousands of servers, storage units, and network devices were stacked up in warehouses all over the West, including along the Columbia River and Wyomings hinterland. They used the electricity from the grid to process millions in transactions. The electricity is equipment. Straining heat, which must then be shed using more electricity or water. Instead of looking for gold or silver veins, cryptocurrency miners are interested in cheap energy. They also set up shop at oil and gas pads to make use of methane.
As with all types of energy waste, the effects depend on where the electricity is coming from. Google, Amazon, Facebook and others purchase solar and renewable power to power their data centers. A few Bitcoin miners also promised to use excess solar power to power their operations during low grid demand. This would be a great help to solar, but it has not been realized on a large scale.
Many thousands of servers, storage devices and network devices are stacked up in vast warehouses throughout the West. They use the grid to process millions upon millions of transactions.
The cryptocurrency miners are looking for cheap energy and have even set up shop on oil and gas pads in order to use methane that would otherwise be flared. Pictured, a flare-mitigation center in Montana.
Crusoe Energy
Power-guzzling with cryptocurrency: an inseparable pair
Cryptocurrency mining is often seen as a process of solving complex equations. This conjures up images of a Red Bull-guzzling genius, staring at a calculator trying to find the Bitcoin-creation formula. It’s not about math, but rather about making guesses and trying to find a random 64-digit number. Whoever can guess the most in a short amount of time will win. The person who has the most energy-intensive computing ability will win the puzzle. They will also be rewarded for their proof with one of a finite quantity of bitcoins. Or, to put another way, the more power an individual uses, the greater their chances of hitting the jackpot. The number of miners increases with each cryptocurrency’s value. More miners mean more computing power, which means more electricity is consumed. Some cryptocurrency are looking at moving away from proof-of-work to a proof-of stake system that uses less electricity, but is also less secure.
In the early days Bitcoins creation, anyone could mine the coins with a standard desktop computer. Each bitcoin that is mined requires more computing power, and therefore more energy. Since 18.5 million of the 21,000,000 bitcoins have been mined, it is only large banks of cryptocurrency mining equipment that can provide enough computing power for success. This, in turn, takes huge amounts of energy.
More miners equals more computing power, which means more electricity is consumed.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (US DOE), Carbon Brief, Wyoming Hyperscale White Box and EZ Blockchain Salt Lake Tribune, Casper Star-Tribune, Data Center Dynamics. Berkeley Lab. City of Mesa. Arizona. Marathon Digital Holdings. Data visualization design: Luna Anna Archey/High Country News
