A garden pot is filled with dirt and liquid in a plastic container labeled “Mining power”.
The liquid is poured to fertilize the dirt. Grass grows at an abnormal rate and then dies even faster, leaving a desolate ground.
The label on the plastic container indicates “110 TW/h” (one hundred terawatts per hour), which is the estimated actual annual mining activity energy consumption for bitcoin only (this is the energy produced by more than 18 nuclear power plants during the same period).
A “miner” or “crypto-miner” is someone whose activity, the “mining”, is to power and maintain a blockchain system. A blockchain is a decentralized, virtual, and highly secure ledger tracking what goes in and out. For instance, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum exploit blockchain systems.
To work, a miner uses computers to resolve complex mathematical equations, which are necessary to ensure the stability and safety of the system. As these equations are complicated, the miner needs a lot of computing power. They end up using entire data centers, which consume a lot of energy. In exchange, a miner gains crypto-currencies.
Maintaining these systems takes every year more and more energy.
As farmers fuel nature’s growth with chemical fertilizers, miners fuel financial growth at an accelerated rate.
In their rush for wealth, crypto-miners and crypto consumers use a massive amount of energy. In doing so, they fuel a short-term frenetic enrichment, consuming the earth. In the long run, mining will only give us a more desolate planet.
