(I think this should go in mining)
There has been a lot of talk on this. Quite a few good papers
https://karlodwyer.github.io/publications/pdf/bitcoin_KJOD_2014.pdfFrom this paper:
"Bitcoin mining is comparable to Irelands electricity consumption".
As bitcoin grows the amount of energy on the planet is not increasing. Anyone who understands the article, it seems very legitimate to me, discuss, Yes, I realize the miner wants to reduce cost & cut waste. Therefore they may seek alternative forms or desire to do so. Yes, I read about the Hydrofarmer on this very forum. It is just not the norm with all the major miners around the planet. Proof of work is expensive.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_work**Title was sarcastic. But it is still something to think about?
there is already another topic about it here
sarcastic or not, there are a lot of other things that are consuming a lot more power than bitcoin.
the banking system with all these branches which all have a lot of power hungry computers inside are consuming more power than bitcoin.