Most people don't know it, but Bitcoin mining is currently the only major global industry to be powered primarily by sustainable energy. The simple reason many people think Bitcoin is primarily powered by fossil fuels is that, until the third quarter of 2022, it was. If you hear people claiming that bitcoin is still predominantly powered by fossil fuels (it isn't), ask them for their source. The UN University data is three years old. The Cambridge data is two years old. There are no longer any independent models or studies using contemporary data that support the claim that Bitcoin is primarily powered by fossil fuels.
After mining was banned in China and Kazakhstan, miners moved to greener grids in North America or to sustainable off-grid sites. Global electricity grids are also becoming greener at a rate of 0.7% per year, meaning that fully electrified technologies such as electric vehicles and Bitcoin mining have a smaller impact on emissions intensity each year. Today, Bitcoin miners on the grid are using 29% greener grids than in 2021, with the share of low-emission electric grids increasing from 34.8% to 45%.
Tether's expansion into hydroelectric mining in Latin America, the general greening of the grid and the discovery of more methane mitigating off-grid mining means that the Bitcoin network is now using more sustainable energy than ever before. Sustainable mining increased by 3.6% in total for calendar year 2023, reaching a new all-time high of 54.5%.
There are more off-grid Bitcoin miners using methane emissions than ever before. In Canada and the US, small oil producers have to pay for a permit to flare stranded natural gas. An unnamed source told us, "Some oil producers are simply venting methane emissions directly into the atmosphere because they've figured out that it's harder to spot a vent than a flare."
Bitcoin mining companies reduce this environmental risk by using the vented methane to power generators that produce electricity for bitcoin mining. There is always a CO2 by-product, but as methane is 84 times more warming than CO2 over a 20-year period, this is much better than letting it escape directly into the air.
This means that the Bitcoin network is now mitigating 7.3% of its total emissions without offsetting, a new all-time record and the highest level of emissions mitigation without offsetting of any industry.
Sources
https://www.batcoinz.com/p/issue-003-one-red-three-green
https://batcoinz.com/new-insights-on-bitcoin-mining-and-sustainability/
