Cryptocurrency mining is the activity through which new cryptoactives are issued and confirm transactions in a Blockchain network. How to do it depends on the algorithm used by the network to reach distributed consensus: Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake, PoS or other. In this sense, Bitcoin mining is the process of checking offers and also building them directly in blocks, which offers both to add purchases to the block chain and to create new Bitcoins. Bitcoin mining, therefore, is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as Blockchain.
In this order of ideas, mining Bitcoin also means allocating the processing power of a computer, either personal or more powerful, to perform calculations that verify the transactions of the digital currency, and for which, in return, an economic compensation is received in that cryptocurrency, which is later exchangeable for other currencies such as euros or dollars. In such a way that, Bitcoin feeds on the mining operations that require the work of hundreds of computers using electricity to be able to carry out the objective.
In this sense, Morgan Stanley and Alex de Vries, economists who monitor the use of energy in the industry, point out that "the computing capacity needed to create each digital currency is equivalent to at least the electricity consumed by an average household American for two years. " In the same sense, according to Digiconomist estimates "the consumption per annual transaction is around 21.59 Twh, which coincides with that indicated by the ING study, 211 kWh, which is comparable to the annual consumption of a country like Ecuador". In turn, the researcher Sebastiaan Deetman revealed that, "according to his most pessimistic calculations, in 2020 this network would use as much electricity as a country the size of Denmark".
Therefore, Bitcoin mining imposes an increasing energy cost, the consumption of electricity is increasingly excessive which makes it impossible to extract it in any other place than a mining farm. Another important component that consumes energy in Bitcoin mining is the cooling of equipment.
Indeed, if the center is located in a place with a cold climate, cooling costs will be lower, but in most places they have to use electricity so that cooling systems minimize the waste heat of the equipment in operation. Also, the computers used to mine Bitcoins demand a lot of electricity and in some cases they are cooled with fans, releasing the heat generated by the powerful computers into the atmosphere, something that is not very ecological.
In this sense, there is a venture of BW, (meaning Bi Wang, which in Chinese literally translates as "website of currencies", a dominant Chinese mining company that is part of the 10 most important on a global scale and has one of the highest percentages of the world's mining power, which was co-founded by LK Group Limited and CHBTC, in turn, Wenjie Zhai, one of the first bitcoiners in China and the CEO and founder of LK Group, which is contributing projects driven by efficient, clean and incredibly cheap hydroelectricity, taking an active role in the global Bitcoin ecosystem
In the same way, ZEUS is one of the first Blockchain-based recycling companies in the world, specializing in the recycling of waste in electricity for cryptocurrency mining.
He is developing an EcoCryptoMining project that combines waste management and processing to solve the biggest problem with cryptocurrency mining: electricity. The electricity generated by the company's plant will be used to feed a cryptocurrency mining operation.
This unique "green production" platform is designed to solve not only the energy consumption needs of the cryptocurrency mining community, but also commercialize the other byproducts of recycling as part of its program of environmental awareness and financial empowerment.
In the same sense, Joaquin Fenoy, CTO and founding partner of Bitchain, explains "If one day you reach a level of unsustainable energy consumption you could make a change in the Bitcoin algorithm to move from 'proof of work' to ' proof of stake '. If 51% of the network accepts this change, it will become valid ".
