The Crypto Christian's Guide To The Environment And Bitcoin Mining

The "Bitcoin is destroying the environment" narrative is patently false.

In fact, Bitcoin mining is strengthening our power grid, uses more green energy than most other industries, and is reducing millions of tons of methane being released into the atmosphere.  

Bitcoin opponents and the media are doing everything they can to push this myth on people. 

This is why we decided to write an official Crypto Christian Guide to Bitcoin and the environment. 

Bitcoin Mining and energy basics:

In order to understand the energy consumption of the Bitcoin network, it's important to first learn a few things about the power grid, the energy sector, and how Bitcoin miners operate.

Let's start with some energy and Bitcoin mining basics: 

• The United States produces more energy than it requires. We can't precisely predict how much energy will be required on any given day to meet peak demand.
  
  This energy is difficult to store and transport. Oftentimes, it becomes stranded energy or simply wasted. Both energy companies and environmentalists don't like this because of the wasted money and emissions. 
  
  
• Natural gas producers in the United States must "flare" excess natural gas production into the atmosphere. Flaring is simply burning the gas which releases 8 metric tons of methane into the air each year. Not great. 
  
  
• Bitcoin miners are incentivized to find the least expensive form of electricity possible. Mining in places such as New York City, Chicago, or San Diego doesn't make sense due to the cost of electricity.
  
  For this reason, Bitcoin miners seek stranded energy, often in rural areas, or for sources of energy where there is an excess amount that must either be sold, flared, or wasted. 

Bitcoin miners are transforming the oil and gas industry into a cleaner, more energy-efficient, and greener power source: 

As mentioned above, Bitcoin miners desire to find the cheapest energy possible. This makes purchasing the excess natural gas produced by energy companies an excellent fit. Instead of flaring unused gas into the air, Bitcoin miners can harness that energy to mine BTC. 

Exxon Mobil has even launched a pilot program in North Dakota, to mine Bitcoin with the excess energy they produce (source). They estimate this practice is reducing their CO2 emissions by 60%. 

The program has been so successful that they are considering expanding it to four other countries. 

ConocoPhillips is another oil and gas giant that has started mining Bitcoin in order to reduce its CO2 and methane emissions (source). 

You can learn more about Exxon Mobil's Bitcoin mining efforts by watching the video below:

Now we know that Bitcoin mining is ACTIVELY reducing CO2 and methane emissions in the oil and gas industry. 

But the naysayers still claim Bitcoin uses too much energy... let's examine the numbers: 

Bitcoin energy use: 

Fear-mongers love using deceptive numbers to tell the world that Bitcoin is boiling the oceans... This is wrong. 

Bitcoin is a green industry and uses less energy than what the media wants you to believe. Let's start by looking at the global consumption:

It's also worth noting  Bitcoin is a global network... this isn't a company or service that operates solely in the United States. The entire world is supporting the Bitcoin network.

But what about Bitcoin's energy consumption compared to the financial industry? Once again, the numbers are favorable to BTC: 

The banking system and the energy consumption associated with the mining of gold far outweigh Bitcoin's energy use. But for some reason, the media isn't calling for Wells Fargo or Chase to shut down their data centers... 

Another benefit of Bitcoin and embracing a digital form of Sound Money is how digitizing parts of the economy dematerializes physical goods and helps the environment. 

Consider how Kindles and iPhones have reduced how much paper is required to publish millions of books each year. Or how email has reduced clutter in our mailbox. Innovation and digital power are saving the environment. 

In time, Bitcoin can help us dematerialize the banking sector as well.

Bitcoin and green energy: 

Crypto miners are leading the way amongst other industries in terms of how much of their energy use is made up of renewable energy. 

As an example, the state of Georgia has become the new "hot spot" for Bitcoin mining in the United States because miners are able to leverage excess energy from nuclear and solar power (source).

Forbes has even reported that the green energy revolution in the crypto space is attracting new investors and may generate more demand for Bitcoin mining by institutional investors (source). 

Bitcoin mining is a leader in green energy, actively reducing the amount of CO2 and methane emissions, and ought to be considered an ally for environmentalists.