SUSTAINABLE DESIGN=> BTC goes Carbon Negative
Can BTC help to reduce greenhouse gases? #
BTC, the first running Blockchain is and always will be tied to the Proof of Work Consensus Mechanism. It can almost be said that BTC equals PoW.
The PoW consensus uses massive amounts of energy to secure transactions happening in the BTC network. One could say that BTC high level of security (BTC never has been hacked) it is because of the PoW algorithm mechanics securing the network through energy spending.
Transactions are secured by Miners which invest huge amounts of money into equipments to mine the BTC network for rewards. Miners are the ones driving, securing and maintaining the network.
The amount of Energy used by the BTC network in today 2022 is around 250 TWh/year which is like 5X the amount of energy consumed by the country city of Singapore or just Denmark.
Because of the international pressure put over the BTC network PoW protocol, a great amount of Bitcoin supporters have been looking to find the advantages that the PoW algorithm can bring to the world and reduce or even decrease CO2 gases.
Here we will explore a groundbreaking new idea which could lead to the decrease of CO2 by using Pow Mining operations world wide
Addressing the CO2 and CO2e production issue #
To understand what CO2e is, we first need to go back to basics and really understand what greenhouse gases are (which are also known as GHS).
- GHS are formed when coal, oil or gas are burned into CO2 and water.
- With the CO2 also other gases are produced called CO2e (methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and the so-called F-gases: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).)
- CO2e (also written as carbon dioxide equivalent, CO2 equivalent or CO2eq) is a metric measure that is used to compare emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their GWP by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of CO2.
- To quantify CO2e, you need to multiply the amount of the greenhouse gases by their GWP
TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE
Once we understand how important of a role plays the methane CH4 in the overall CO2 production we can see how some scientists are starting to focus in the near term on targeting mostly this this gas like we have CFCs in the past.
The forgotten CH4 part in the overall CO2 production #
When Carbon in any of its forms is burned, (Coal, Oil, Gas - Article some CH4 or Methane gas is being produced.
Knowing this, a group of scientists interested in BTC and concerned about environmental issues have recently discovered and disclosed a fascinating and novel opportunity that can transform BTC into a monetary “CLEAN MACHINE”:
- Small mining facilities can be built inside containers and shipped anywhere in the world where there is unused energy. These portable mining operations can monetize any kind of unused energy because it exists only in remote locations where it is not cost effective to build a large facility.
- Massive amounts of energy, in this case in the form of CH4, are released into the atmosphere each day without being used.
- The CH4 or Methane gas has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere. Even though CO2 has a longer-lasting effect, methane sets the pace for warming in the near term.
- At least 25% of today’s global warming is driven by methane from human actions mainly emitted through waste landfills.
- Acting now to reduce methane emissions will have immediate benefits to the climate that reductions in carbon dioxide cannot provide on their own.
This creates a strange paradox in the industry aiming for a carbon-neutral business by 2050.
BTC mining could go from being Carbon positive to Carbon negative if the mining industry creates enough mobile mining operations on landfills around the world targeting the free CH4 at the source and converting it directly into money energy through the BTC network.
And this is because methane that would have otherwise escaped into the atmosphere would be burnt and become Carbon negative because the carbon dioxide it would produce, although harmful, would be much less harmful than having methane escape into the atmosphere.
You are welcome to listen to this video where the 4 speakers dive into this beautiful idea
Related Video #
Can Bitcoin Be Good For The Environment?