FOREWORD Carbon Credits for Crypto Mining are Greenwashing a Dirty Industry
Bitcoin miners are starting to get access to carbon credits - a disturbing new step in greenwashing an industry that uses more energy than all 3,040 large hospitals across the United States combined .
“ It ’ s as if Beanie Babies not only facilitated narcotrafficking but also used more energy than all 3,040 large hospitals across the United States combined ”
DATACENTRE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY
TODD MOSS , MICHAEL PISA ,
CGD
I make no bones about my disdain for the practice of carbon offsetting . Private corporations paying money to other private corporations in exchange for scrubbing CO2 emissions from their balance sheets is bad enough . Apply that to a hyper-dense , hyper wasteful industry like cryptocurrency mining , however , and the practice somehow becomes even more irresponsible .
BSO , in partnership with ImpactScope - a Swiss “ social enterprise ” company set up to provide offsetting solutions to crypto enthusiasts , bitcoin miners and digital asset marketplaces - “ has become the first connectivity provider to offer clients that trade cryptocurrencies the means to calculate and offset the excess carbon emissions of their operations .”
Bitcoin production is estimated to generate between 22 and 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year . If cryptocurrency miners are allowed to continue emitting amounts of carbon roughly equal to the annual emissions of Sri Lanka , while using readily available carbon credits ( the proceeds from go to private corporations rather than government tax coffers ) to report emissions in line with their ESG goals , then it will be an act of monumental climate irresponsibility .
HARRY MENEAR harry . menear @ bizclikmedia . com © 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED datacentremagazine . com 3