{"id":613,"date":"2022-03-02T15:31:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T15:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/02\/us-lawmakers-probe-into-crypto-mining-companies-energy-use\/"},"modified":"2022-03-02T15:31:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T15:31:03","slug":"us-lawmakers-probe-into-crypto-mining-companies-energy-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/02\/us-lawmakers-probe-into-crypto-mining-companies-energy-use\/","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers probe into crypto mining companies\u2019 energy use"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/1\/28\/22906334\/us-lawmakers-letter-cryptocurrency-mining-bitcoin-energy\">https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/1\/28\/22906334\/us-lawmakers-letter-cryptocurrency-mining-bitcoin-energy<\/a><br \/>\n<code><br \/><\/br><\/code><\/p>\n<div readability=\"148.80526398245\">\n<p id=\"qKW4PE\">Democratic lawmakers are pushing Bitcoin mining companies in the US to divulge how much electricity they use in an effort to assess how that will impact nearby residents and the environment. Eight members of Congress sent letters<strong> <\/strong>yesterday to six companies that mine Bitcoin in the US asking them about the energy and environmental impact of their operations.<\/p>\n<p id=\"dbN9Jn\">\u201cGiven the extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining, mining operations raise concerns about their impacts on the global environment, local ecosystems, and consumer electricity costs,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warren.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2022.01.27%20Letters%20to%20Cryptominers.pdf\">letters say<\/a>. The letters were signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Margaret Hassan (D-NH), and Ed Markey (D-MA). Representatives Katie Porter (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Jared Huffman (D-CA) also signed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"UJw3vw\">The congresspeople asked the companies to answer questions about how much electricity they use, where it comes from, and how they plan to grow in the US. This comes on the heels of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/1\/20\/22893720\/us-congress-hearing-cryptocurrency-energy-bitcoin-mining\">oversight hearing<\/a> on cryptocurrency mining\u2019s impact on energy held by the House Energy &#038; Commerce Committee last week. During the hearing, experts and lawmakers debated whether cryptocurrencies might play a role in promoting renewable energy or totally derail US climate goals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">\n<aside id=\"QV1AY4\"><q>Whether cryptocurrencies might play a role in promoting renewable energy or totally derail US climate goals<\/q><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"mRAj7I\">Mining certain cryptocurrencies, most notably Bitcoin, gobbles up huge amounts of energy. If Bitcoin were a country, it would <a href=\"https:\/\/ccaf.io\/cbeci\/index\/comparisons\">rank 27th<\/a> in the world for its electricity consumption \u2014 using more electricity than the country of Ukraine in a single year. If that electricity is generated from fossil fuels, it comes with a lot of pollution that adds to the climate crisis. <\/p>\n<p id=\"GgmLqF\">The reason Bitcoin uses so much electricity is that it relies on an energy-intensive process called \u201cproof of work\u201d to keep its ledger secure. It requires miners to use specialized computing equipment to solve ever-more-complex puzzles in order to verify transactions. The miners are rewarded with new coins in return. <\/p>\n<p id=\"GJ0Fky\">The proof of work system, which is intentionally energy inefficient in order to dissuade people from tampering with the ledger, is what worries some policymakers and many environmental experts. Different processes use just a fraction of the energy required for proof of work.<\/p>\n<p id=\"Gp7ksG\">In the US, miners\u2019 hunger for energy has already revived aging <a href=\"https:\/\/grist.org\/technology\/bitcoin-greenidge-seneca-lake-cryptocurrency\/\">natural gas<\/a> and coal plants. For instance, one of the companies that received a letter yesterday, Stronghold Digital Mining, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/now\/fossil-fuel-firms-friends-bitcoin-100033926.html\">bought<\/a> two <a href=\"https:\/\/strongholddigitalmining.com\/the-facility\/\">Pennsylvania power plants<\/a> that now burn coal waste primarily to mine Bitcoin. The company says on its website that, by burning coal waste, it\u2019s helping to clean up \u201careas that have been ravaged by its presence.\u201d But once burned, the waste pollutes the air and heats up the planet. The EPA has recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/epa-tackles-coal-to-crypto-industry-trend\/\">cracked down<\/a> on power plants that dispose of coal waste on site, including two that have been used to power cryptocurrency mining, <em>E&#038;E News<\/em> reported last week.<\/p>\n<p id=\"AcUOvF\">Coal waste aside, industry advocates argue that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that use proof of work can clean up their act with renewable energy. And since battery technology currently isn\u2019t advanced enough to store renewable energy whenever there\u2019s more solar and wind power than the grid can handle, they argue that mining operations can make use of the excess energy so that it doesn\u2019t go to waste. <\/p>\n<p id=\"gjnaFk\">That argument, however, is still largely theoretical. The answers to the questions in the letter lawmakers sent might reveal whether the companies are actually running on clean or dirty energy. There\u2019s some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/5\/13\/22434617\/renewable-energy-bitcoin-pollution-tesla-elon-musk\">skepticism<\/a> that miners would be willing to modify the hours during which they run their equipment in order to best make use of renewable energy. The machines typically run 24\/7 to maximize profits \u2014 not just during daytime when solar power is available. <\/p>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">\n<aside id=\"JMzE7R\"><q>The answers to the questions in the letter lawmakers sent might reveal whether the companies are actually running on clean or dirty energy<\/q><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"AAozBx\">If mining companies aren\u2019t using excess renewable electricity but instead competing with other customers to fuel their operations, that could drive up utility bills for households and other businesses. That\u2019s already been the case in Plattsburgh, New York, Congress members point out as one example in their letter. Residential utility bills ballooned by <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/R\/R45863\/3\">up to $300<\/a> in 2018 after Bitcoin miners set up shop nearby.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3cIG5w\">Stronghold and the other companies were asked to respond to the lawmakers\u2019 letter by February 10th. Riot Blockchain Inc., Bitdeer, Bitfury Group, Bit Digital, and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. also received letters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"1frnar\">\u201cWe look forward to having a productive dialogue about the many benefits that we and the rest of our industry have for the United States,\u201d Charlie Schumacher, director of corporate communications for Marathon Digital Holdings, said in an email to <em>The Verge<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"R0YGWo\">\u201cWe are proud to do business in America, and we look forward to thoroughly reviewing and earnestly responding to the requested information in the letter we received from the Senate,\u201d Riot Blockchain communications director Trystine Payfer said in an email. A spokesperson for Stronghold Digital Mining also said in an email that they are \u201cexcited to engage with Senator Warren and her colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"yfHiJI\">The other companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p id=\"KUMv91\">The global center for cryptocurrency mining has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/9\/30\/22702543\/bitcoin-carbon-footprint-emissions-china\">shifted from China<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ccaf.io\/cbeci\/mining_map\">to the US<\/a> over the past couple years as China cracked down with policies banning the practice. Now, more than a third of all mining happens in the US, and that\u2019s expected to grow. <\/p>\n<p id=\"2Oz1Rr\"><em><strong>Correction 4:43PM Jan. 28<\/strong><\/em><em>: A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Stronghold Digital Mining bought two  <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/strongholddigitalmining.com\/the-facility\/\"><em>Pennsylvania power plants<\/em><\/a><em> that burn coal waste exclusively to mine Bitcoin.<\/em> <em>This story has been corrected to say that the plants primarily power bitcoin mining; they also provide power to the grid during times of high demand. The story has also been updated to include a statement from Stronghold.<\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"LlLvAO\"><em><strong>Correction 11:10AM Jan. 31:<\/strong><\/em><em> A previous version of this article incorrectly said that the EPA has recently <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/epa-tackles-coal-to-crypto-industry-trend\/\"><em>cracked down<\/em><\/a><em> on power plants seeking to burn coal waste. The power plants were seeking permission to continue keeping coal waste on site. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><code><br \/><\/br><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/1\/28\/22906334\/us-lawmakers-letter-cryptocurrency-mining-bitcoin-energy\">https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/1\/28\/22906334\/us-lawmakers-letter-cryptocurrency-mining-bitcoin-energy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Democratic lawmakers are pushing Bitcoin mining companies in the US to divulge how much electricity they use in an effort to assess how that will impact nearby residents and the environment. Eight members of Congress sent letters yesterday to six companies that mine Bitcoin in the US asking them about the energy and environmental [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,40,26],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-environment","category-science","tag-energy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US lawmakers probe into crypto mining companies\u2019 energy use - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/02\/us-lawmakers-probe-into-crypto-mining-companies-energy-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US lawmakers probe into crypto mining companies\u2019 energy use - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source: Democratic lawmakers are pushing Bitcoin mining companies in the US to divulge how much electricity they use in an effort to assess how that will impact nearby residents and the environment. 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