One of the major problems with cryptocurrencies is the environmental impact that digital transactions have on the planet. The method of bitcoin mining is energy-intensive involving heavy usage of fuels like coal. China contributes to fossil emissions of roughly 40% due to the usage of coal compared to its total usage of energy for bitcoin mining.[1] Many people are concerned about the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies. Bill Gates also commented that he was concerned about how much energy bitcoin mining is consuming. It is true bitcoin miners are consuming a lot of energy. The USA is globally at around 9 to 10 gigawatts of global electricity consumption. Investors are searching for new ways to put their money in digital currency without compromising the future environmental quality in an eco-friendly manner.The crypto market tumbled as soon Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla has halted purchases of vehicles with bitcoin due to concerns over the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining across the world.” He additionally mentioned watching for different cryptocurrencies that use substantially lesser than even 1% energy for mining Bitcoin Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) square measure the plain candidates.Which are the few sustainable crypto coins?A study by TRG Data center revealed that some sustainable cryptocurrencies like XRP, Dogecoin, and Cardano use less than 1% energy in terms of Kilowatt-hour consumed per transaction. XRP is the least damaging crypto coin that uses 0.0079 of a Kilowatt hour per transaction. Algorand, another crypto claims to have a carbon-negative blockchain, meaning that it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces.What the future of climate change beholds?Elon Musk mentioned talking with North American Bitcoin miners. He stated that he is committed to publishing current and planned renewable usage and to ask miners worldwide to promote energy usage transparency and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide. Bitcoin which had tumbled below $40,000 for the first time since March 13, 2021, regained confidence and bounced by 15% after the news. Other digital currencies followed the rebound as well.It would be interesting to see the future of blockchain when ace entrepreneurs are willing to fund projects worth millions with digital currencies. What remains to be answered is whether the deterioration in the climate standard will cost such investment heavily in the future. Take, for instance, Space X’s plan to launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in early 2022 with the company ready to accept the cryptocurrency as a fund.
How can crypto mining impact world environment?
