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A brand new technology is eager to show it won’t destroy the planet. Meanwhile a tech business, founded more than 100 years ago, wants to prove it can use big data to prosper without damaging the environment.
On this week’s Tech Tent we explore whether Bitcoin is going green and if the jet engine business Rolls Royce can still innovate
The key idea behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralised and nobody is in charge.
But this week a group of North American Bitcoin miners, with the encouragement of crypto-enthusiast Elon Musk, decided to take charge.
Well, to be clear, the members of the self-appointed Bitcoin Mining Council decided they would act to deal with a major image problem for the cryptocurrency: its energy use.
As Tech Tent has reported, the process of creating new coins and recording transactions uses as much electricity each year as a country the size of Argentina.
That issue has seen China and Iran move to ban cryptocurrency mining, and that has contributed to the wild swings in the Bitcoin price seen recently
She insists that Bitcoin mining equipment – essentially computers packed with specialised chips – is getting much more efficient and quotes a study showing 39% of the energy used in mining comes from renewable sources.
But North America only accounts for a small proportion of mining, with much of it taking place in China using electricity from coal-fired power stations.
Even if there is a ban in China, Reuters is reporting that many miners are planning to move to oil-rich Kazhakstan, with its abundant cheap, non-renewable energy.
The finance writer Frances Coppola, a long-term critic of cryptocurrencies, concedes that the North American miners are now taking the environmental impact of their activities seriously. But she points out that even a greener Bitcoin presents many problems.
“Bitcoin, because it is an add-on to existing financial systems, actually increases emissions – it’s going to increase emissions just because it exists. And there are also things like the ransomware threats – criminals use Bitcoin for ransomware demands,” she said.
Source : Tech Tent: Green Bitcoin and innovative engines – BBC News
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