Saylor Advocates Bitcoin Mining, says BTC Energy Use is ‘Inconsequential’

Bitcoin’s tussle to gain dominance not just in the cryptocurrency space but the larger financial structure has often been hindered by the controversies around BTC mining.

Nonetheless, recent reports by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) show that the percentage of the global Bitcoin mining industry running on renewable power has increased by 1% to 58.5% in the last quarter of 2021, thereby pushing a positive narrative for the sector.

The BMC announced the findings of its fourth-quarter survey on January 18 where MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor pointed out that the total use of energy for Bitcoin (BTC) mining is ‘inconsequential,’ and that it is ‘rapidly becoming more efficient.’ 

A Long-drawn War 

Bitcoin mining is generally done using large mining pools spread across many geographies where BTC miners aggregate mining systems consuming massive amounts of electricity in the process.

Bitcoin production is estimated to generate between 22 and 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, as per a 2019 study in scientific journal Joule and the same has resulted in negative commentary around the coin and the larger narrative for cryptocurrencies. 

In fact, in May 2021, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk had a sudden change of mind over accepting BTC amid the cryptocurrency’s energy usage issues, the effects of the same were spotted in the larger market sell-offs that followed the tech tycoon’s announcement.

Around that time, Saylor convened a meeting of North American BTC miners to address issues pertaining to Bitcoin mining and energy consumption. 

During the quarterly briefing by the BMC on January 18 Saylor said:

“This quarter we saw the trend continue with dramatic improvements to Bitcoin mining energy efficiency and sustainability due to advances in semiconductor technology, the rapid expansion of North American mining, the China Exodus, and worldwide rotation toward sustainable energy and modern mining techniques.”

Here’s the Brightside 

The BMC survey compiled sustainable energy information from miners including more than 46% of the global Bitcoin network. As per the recorded data, the members of the Mining Council itself are harnessing electricity with a sustainable energy mix of 66.1%.

The estimated global Bitcoin mining industry’s sustainable energy mix came out to be 58.5% during Q4, 2021 while the industry’s estimated technological efficiency grew by 9% as well, to 19.3 petahash per MW.

That said, the report also highlighted that global Bitcoin mining has the highest sustainable energy mix in comparison to various nations. 

The survey focused on three metrics including sustainable power mix, technological efficiency, and electricity consumption. The data compiled by BMC over the last month, further presented that global BTC mining consumes 3.2% of the electrical system energy wasted or lost in the USA in one year.

It also claims that Bitcoin mining energy usage is 0.142% when compared to the world’s total energy.

That said, ahead of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee’s hearing on ‘Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency’ scheduled for January 20, the findings of the BMC could play an important role in tipping the scales in favor of BTC.