A climate tech investor has painted a bright view of the Bitcoin (BTC) network, suggesting that the positive environment of BTC outweighs the negative by a ratio of 31:1.
On January 12, self-proclaimed philanthropist and environmentalist Daniel Batten claimed in a Twitter thread that “Bitcoin is probably the most important ESG technology of our time.”
According to Batten, the 31:1 positive impact ratio was calculated through research and interviews with grid engineers, climate scientists, BTC mining engineers, methane reduction experts, and solar and wind installers.
The findings found 21 ways Bitcoin can be environmentally positive and only five ways it can be environmentally negative.
1/7
Environmentally, Bitcoin has a positive:negative ratio of 31:1
This means that Bitcoin is probably the most important ESG technology of our time
As a fund manager, I consider it remiss of ESG investors not to consider the mix.
Here is a summary of the data
– Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) January 12, 2023
Batten said the discovery is “not dissimilar” to the solar industry.
Many positives include the renewable energy network and the benefits of mining such as being a key technology to respond to grid electricity demand from over and undersupply. Bitcoin mining farms can be turned on or off depending on the power demand limit.
Additionally, BTC mining can be a solution to geographic curtailment. Power reduction is a deliberate reduction in the following output that can be produced to balance the supply and demand of energy, or due to transmission constraints.
There are also benefits in innovation and methane reduction, according to Batten’s findings.
BTC mining can be used to reduce landfill gas emissions and gas flares by using this wasted energy to power rigs.
Some of the negatives include the level of network emissions, the production of e-waste, and the opening of previous fossil fuel sites. However, the positives of the environment outweigh the negatives, according to Batten who points out:
“The rapidly renewable adoption of Bitcoin mining could inspire other industry sectors.”
“We see Bitcoin mining can be a real part of global methane mitigation,” he said.
related: Bitcoin could become a zero-emission network: Report
On January 13, SCMP challenged the notion that Bitcoin is good for the environment by reporting that BTC contributed 86.3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2022.
However, he acknowledged that Ethereum sees CO2 emissions drop from 21.95 million tons in 2021 to 8,824 tons last year, according to data from Forex Suggest. Ethereum’s merger and switch to proof-of-stake last year reduced network power consumption by 99.98%.