The Bitcoin network has experienced significant expansion in recent years without a corresponding increase in its carbon footprint, a feat that sets it apart from most other industries, according to a Bloomberg analyst. On September 20th, Jamie Coutts, a crypto market analyst at Bloomberg, pointed to data indicating that the use of sustainable energy in Bitcoin mining has continued to rise since 2021, now surpassing 50%. This has resulted in a slower growth rate of emissions compared to the network’s continued growth. Coutts remarked:
“Bitcoin, as a global monetary network, is scaling while its carbon impact declines. Few industries can claim this achievement.”
He believes that this evolving relationship between Bitcoin’s growth and the worldwide shift away from fossil fuels could trigger a significant influx of institutional and even sovereign investment capital into the cryptocurrency.
The analyst further explained that energy costs constitute a significant portion of Bitcoin mining’s operational expenses:
“The incentive to acquire the cheapest energy sources is contributing to the network’s rising hash rate while simultaneously reducing the industry’s emissions or carbon intensity.”
However, there has been debate surrounding the percentage of sustainable energy employed in Bitcoin mining. While Cambridge University’s model, last updated in January 2022, indicated that sustainable energy accounted for just 37.6% of Bitcoin mining, climate technology venture investor and activist Daniel Batten argues that the actual figure is above 50%. He believes that the Cambridge figures are inaccurate due to the omission of off-grid mining and methane mitigation from its calculations.
Earlier this year, Batten reported that the emissions intensity of Bitcoin mining had reached its lowest level ever. Additionally, he predicts that the Bitcoin network will achieve carbon neutrality by December 2024 and that by 2030, it will be responsible for mitigating 10 times more emissions from the atmosphere than it produces an extraordinary accomplishment.
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