New research estimates that the 34 largest Bitcoin mining operations in the United States consumed more electricity in 2022 than all of Los Angeles combined. 85% of the electricity came from fossil fuels and exposed 1.9 million Americans to more than 0.1  μg/m3 of additional PM2.5 pollution.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58287-3

by Motorista_de_uber

12 comments

  1. This is one area I do think we need to stomp on. Bitcoin miners can find their own power when it comes to the farms. If anything, they should have to pay for the higher usage and have to switch to more green tech than allow them to buy up coal plants.

  2. Not a big deal. It’s demand that really matters right now. And other than a couple weeks in summer and a week in the northern regions during the winter, we have a ton of capacity just sitting there.

  3. Power for bitcoin mining should be provided at 3x the price…

  6. Using ‘balancing authorities’ implies that they are literally just plugging into the grid and not getting Power Purchase Agreements, absolutely ridiculous and biased study. 100% of large scale miners have PPA’s because you can not simply plug in 40 megawatts of demand without getting a PPA. The majority of these companies listed have publicly disclosed PPA’s or 3rd party verified proof of using renewables. Renewables contracts are cheaper as well so miners tend to go for those over fossil fuels. Just because they’re in a specific balancing authority does not mean they’re simply using that regions exact mix. Not to mention demand response, flexible loads, utilization of flare gas. Most miners want to attach themselves to wind and solar farms because that is the most economical thing to do.

    Genuinely a clown show attempt at attacking bitcoin mining with literally zero knowledge of how any of the energy markets work.

    You can downvote and dislike this and bitcoin all you want i do not care about your ‘updoots or downdoots fellow redditor xD le bacon cringe’ but this study is objectively and demonstrably incorrect as well as obviously disingenuous, basically just blatant lying or literally zero knowledge of how industrial scale power works.

  7. The best part of this is that bitcoin is an essential part of modern life that people use everyday…

    In the hope that someone will buy it for more than they did from them one day. 

  8. It’s good to know that such an essential part of everyday life is being adequately provisioned in our power grid.

    I’m sure that excess air pollution didn’t kill anyone or cause any asthma for children. 

  9. Ok, where’s all the MAGAGOTS claiming the grid can’t support EV’s?

  10. No one will convince me that cryptocurrencies are not a scam. They’re useful for speculation, criminal activity, and ransomware payouts.

  11. Fun fact, residential folks in these areas paid more on average for their energy needs as a direct consequence of bitcoin mining, while those mines got a bulk discount or even made huge sums by reselling energy back to the grid at peak rates.

    >”The cost of Bitcoin miners reselling electricity during peak demand falls on consumers, University of Houston energy economist Ed Hirs tells the *Times*. “Ironically, when people are paying the most for their power, or losing it altogether, the miners are making money selling energy back to Texans at rates 100 times what they paid.”

    >There’s also a cost from the miners’ enormous power consumption. Bitcoin miners say they set up camp in areas where they can use otherwise unusable renewable energy, but their energy needs are so great they actually get 85 percent of their energy from coal and natural gas plants, causing “as much carbon pollution as adding 3.5 million gas-powered cars to America’s roads,” [the *Times* reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-electricity-pollution.html), citing an analysis by tech nonprofit WattTime.

    >The 1,800 MW used by the 10 Bitcoin mines connected to the Texas grid require more expensive power generators to come online, and this “increased demand has caused electric bills for power customers to rise nearly 5 percent, or $1.8 billion per year,” the *Times* reports, citing a simulation performed by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. “In West Texas, where several Bitcoin mines have settled, bills have increased by nearly 9 percent.”

    >A group of seven federal lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), asked ERCOT about the state’s cryptocurrency boom and power consumption last fall. “Given the impacts of crypto-mining on the climate, the grid, and to ratepayers, ERCOT’s support for this industry is irresponsible and highly concerning,” [they wrote](https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-is-becoming-a-bitcoin-mining-capital-can-the-grid-handle-it).

    >”It’s a massive financial burden to Texans,” Wood Mackenzie’s Ben Hertz-Shargel told the *Times*. And because of how the Texas market operates, the increases are steepest for residential customers. Riot, for example, told investors that due to its various strategies, it paid 2.96 cents per kilowatt-hour last year. “By comparison, the average price for other industrial businesses in Texas was 7.2 cents,” the *Times* reports. “For residents, it was 13.5 cents.””

    [How much energy does Bitcoin mining consume? Look to Texas. | The Week](https://theweek.com/in-depth/1022698/how-voracious-bitcoin-mining-is-messing-with-texans)

  12. When the billionaires stop using their planes like transit I might gaf about the energy used to mine Bitcoin.

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