A controversial topic is discussed again and again in the blockchain community: How bad is the impact of Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining on the environment? Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sparked a sharp correction in the cryptocurrency market when he tweeted that Tesla would not accept BTC after all. The reason for this was that "the use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions is increasing rapidly". However, a recent report by CoinShares finds that despite the widespread use of coal, oil and gas for bitcoin mining, the network accounts for less than 0.08 percent of the world's carbon production.
In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Kristian Csepcsar, head of marketing at the oldest bitcoin mining pool, Slush Pool, opened up about what he believes to be misconceptions about bitcoin mining's environmental impact. He was asked about the disadvantages of using electricity derived from oil and gas for Bitcoin mining. Csepcsar replied that all is not as it seems at first glance:
"We literally burn the gas into the atmosphere just because it's not economical to do anything with it [flaring]. Instead, we can put it in a motor to generate electricity and use that to mine bitcoin."
Flaring means burning excess natural gas from oil production because there is no pipeline infrastructure to bring it to market. Recently, bitcoin miners in the US and Canada have found clever ways to use the natural gas to generate electricity instead of simply burning it into the atmosphere. In doing so, they have solved a critical environmental problem.
However, Csepcsar remains skeptical about certain renewable sources for Bitcoin mining, calling them "marketing bluster," specifically talking about solar power. He explained to Cointelegraph:
"We published a study on our blog that shows that we're not big proponents of solar mining. If you calculate the profitability, it's not that good. It's a very tough business."
Cespsar went on to say that about 70 percent of all solar panels are made in China and that little research has been done on the environmental impact of the manufacturing process:
A lot of harmful chemicals are produced during their production. And nobody talks about it. Everyone thinks that solar cells grow on trees and then the sun just shines on them. But no, the manufacturing process is brutal.
Finally, it should be noted that Slush Pool has no data on the energy source used by its bitcoin miners. When asked why this is so, Cespcsar gave a surprising answer, but one that arguably fits the philosophy of decentralization and privacy:
"As pool operators, we don't want to know. To get those numbers, we'd have to do identity checks on our miners, economically verify their operations, or even filter transactions [for analytics]. We don't want that ethos here."
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