Cryptocurrency and the benefits of ecology. How does “green” mining work?
Digital money mining is often accused of harming the environment. However, the situation is changing right now. How a new kind of asset helps grow strawberries in Canada and why miners’ main friends are wind, sun and water

Mining requires a lot of electricity. The average electricity consumption of a bitcoin network can compare to the needs of entire countries. The University of Cambridge talks about a figure of 97 terawatts per year. About the same amount of energy per year is consumed by Kazakhstan or the Netherlands. By comparison, only a year ago the figure barely exceeded 73 terawatts annually.

Experts find it difficult to accurately assess the carbon footprint of bitcoin mining, but they agree that the cryptocurrency is taking a heavy toll on the environment. In China, which accounts for more than half of the entire BTC system, most of the electricity is produced in coal-fired power plants. This method of mining is the cheapest in China.

The other side of the coin is the cost of electricity. For many miners it becomes unprofitable to mine coins, because the electricity costs exceed the income from mining. From China and Germany, miners are moving to Scandinavia, Russia, the United States and Canada. Mining in countries with colder climates reduces the cost of bitcoin.

Although the reason for migration is most often a concern for their own income, all this has led to the search for alternative solutions and the emergence of “green,” or ecological, mining.