EVANSTON, Ill. — A research team at the University of Hawaii Manoa published a paper today (Oct. 29) in the journal Nature Climate Change, which ties cryptocurrency mining to extreme increases in global temperatures. Northwestern University’s Eric Masanet has reviewed the paper and finds the analysis to be “fundamentally flawed.”
Masanet is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Masanet can be reached at [email protected].
The paper, “Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming about 2oC” by Camilo Mora, et al., claims that if Bitcoin is implemented at the same rates as other technologies, it will increase the Earth’s temperature by 2oC in 16 to 22 years.
Quote from Professor Masanet:
“While the future growth of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is highly unpredictable, we do know that the global electric power sector is decarbonizing and that information technologies — including cryptocurrency mining rigs — are becoming much more energy efficient. It appears the authors have overlooked these two latter trends in their projections, while simultaneously insisting on tremendous growth in cryptocurrency adoption, resulting in inflated and dubious estimates of future carbon emissions.”
About Masanet:
A recognized global expert in sustainability and climate change, Masanet analyzes the energy use of data centers, networks and information technologies. He was the lead author of the influential 2007 Report to Congress on U.S. Data Center Energy Use and most recently led the International Energy Agency’s analyses of global data center and network energy use trends in its 2017 Digitalization and Energy Report. With a grant from the Sloan Foundation, Masanet and his colleagues are currently developing a best practice framework for estimating the energy use of blockchain technologies, including Bitcoin.
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