Cryptocurrencies became much less harmful to the environment in 2022 after ethereum, the second largest blockchain, reduce its carbon emissions by 99% when it was produced the process known as Merge.
And this put the spotlight on bitcoinwhich is estimated to have emitted 86.3 million tons of carbon in 2022. Nuclear power could help. Since any bitcoin mined through a nuclear power plant will emit practically no carbon.
Undermine bitcoins requires enormous amounts of energy. Computers from all over the world compete to solve complicated cryptographic puzzles, and the first to do so are rewarded with this currency.
The more computing power you have at your disposal, the more likely you are to solve the problem first. To be competitive, bitcoin miners assemble dozens of computer equipment dedicated to the process, which consume enormous amounts of electricity.
Nuclear power is a patch, not a fix for the currency
Because renewable energy sources tend to be cheaper, bitcoin miners often set up their operations near solar, wind, or hydroelectric farms.
Is calculated that more than 39% of bitcoin is extracted with renewable energyan argument that cryptocurrency advocates often use to claim that bitcoin is good for the environment because it encourages renewable energy.
But bitcoin emissions are still gigantic, and nuclear power is increasingly seen as a way to reduce them. In this sense, a company has built a data center connected to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, with plans to rent its equipment to Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf.
The completion of the center announced last week by Cumulus Data, makes it America’s first nuclear-powered bitcoin mine. But the reality is that as long as bitcoin does not stop being Proof of work to become Proof of stake, this cryptocurrency will continue to contaminate.
