The world uses 141.36 terawatt hours of electricity a year for bitcoin mining

- Hasmukh Gajjar

- According to a calculation, the power consumption in bitcoin mining is the 7th highest in the world compared to other countries. Environmentalists oppose heavy power consumption by installing hundreds of computers for cryptocurrency mining

As soon as you hear the word Ma inning, you remember digging to extract precious minerals from the soil, but in the digital age, the meaning of mining has changed. The world today is rife with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is being mined to meet the growing demand. Mining is a process where transactions and processes are done using computer power.

The network is secured and everyone connected to it is synchronized with a single system. Hundreds of computers are being installed for cryptocurrency mining, leading environmentalists to oppose increasing energy consumption for bitcoin mining. The issue remains hot because mining of any cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, uses a lot of electricity.

A study from Cambridge University earlier this year found that bitcoin mining consumes an estimated 121.5 terawatt-hours (TWH) of electricity a year worldwide. However, given the growing demand for Bitcoin, it is estimated that more than 121.5 terawatt hours of electricity is currently being used for mining. Still this power consumption is likely to increase steadily. A terawatt over is a huge unit of energy. Which produces 1 trillion watts for one hour. This terawatt over unit is referred to as the annual power generation and power consumption of a large country. The amount of energy used in bitcoin mining is even higher than the annual energy consumption of many countries.

The power consumption for Bitcoin in a year is more than the 181 TWh power consumption of Argentina. The Netherlands consumes 108 TWh, the UAE 112.50 TW and Norway 18.50 TWh. According to a calculation, the power consumption in bitcoin mining is the 7th highest in the world compared to the power consumption of countries.

People who earn bitcoin through a computer network are called miners. Hundreds of computers are connected to the cryptocurrency network for bitcoin mining. This computer works to verify the people who are buying or selling bitcoins. Bitcoin purchases and sales are also to be accounted for. This task also involves solving a puzzle in order to get someone to swindle Bitcoin. This is called Proof of Work Protocol. Bitcoin has to go through computer code when it goes from one person to another. This is a code-breaking process involving more than 1.5 billion calculations. This computer process also uses a lot of electricity.

According to one source, a single bitcoin transaction consumes as much electricity as 4 hours of electricity spent on 8 homes in the United States. As profits grow in cryptocurrencies, more and more computers will be connected to mining, which is considered dangerous for the environment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk initially invested heavily in Bitcoin. He also bought bitcoins from Tesla in his private holdings. Tesla announced a ખરીદ 1.6 billion acquisition for the company.

After that, the price of 1 bit coin reached the level of 2000. Elon Musk's move was opposed because it works in energy saving and clean energy sources. Musk finally reversed his decision to accept Teslacars' payments in Bitcoin by tweeting. Bitcoin's price plummeted to around ૦૦ 50,000 after Musk's tweet. A tweet knocked out the world market for cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency mining is a very time consuming and expensive job but miners and investors interested in cryptocurrency understand gold mining. At a time when no price was asking, cryptocurrencies are booming. Some bitcoin miners keep going to places like Iceland to reduce mining costs. Electricity is easily and cheaply available here. Favorable weather helps keep the system cool.

Some other currencies, such as Bitcoin, are taking interest in mining cryptocurrencies, believing that they will rise at any time. In Central Asia's Ukraine and Central America's El Salvador, the government has moved to create a national currency by passing a resolution in parliament recognizing cryptocurrencies and creating legal tender.

In many countries of the world, Bitcoin is in a state of stagnation that is neither legal nor illegal. Speaking of India, the cryptocurrency business is not entirely legal. Trading can happen but mining is difficult. Power consumption is also considered an important reason for not legalizing and regulating bitcoin mining in India but no data or survey has been done in this regard. Not every household in India still has enough electricity. In such circumstances, the cost of electricity is not affordable. However, in the last one year, cryptocurrency investments have risen by 215 per cent. The investment was 50 million in April 2020, which is ૬ 4.5 billion as of May 2021.

Bitcoin mining requires an Application Specified Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Such machines brought from abroad for mining burn a lot of electricity. Mining can be done by some other graphics but it is considered a loss deal. As the printing of notes is illegal in India, the patch between currency and mining is not easy to resolve.

However, this problem is not only of India but many countries of the world are confused. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned many countries against the dangers of linking cryptocurrencies to national currencies. Issues such as volatility in cryptocurrency prices, use in illegal transactions and theft of exchanges are also involved. Some countries are also considering digital assets rather than digital currencies.

Bitcoin mining is largely based on the rate of electricity and its easy availability. So even though cryptocurrency is virtual, its mining problems are real. At present miners do not take the risk of over-investment and heavy machinery but mining is still going to grow exponentially as the demand for cryptocurrencies continues to grow. Therefore, it would not be a surprise if a carbon tax is imposed on mining to alleviate the problem of power consumption in the future.