Bitcoin mining emits 0.08% of world CO2 in 2021

On the growing popularity of Bitcoin in the world, its mining is turning to be a major concern for many governments. Bitcoin mining affects pollution and the green environment in its process. China has banned Bitcoin mining claiming environmental causes. Proof of work is the original crypto consensus mechanism, used in Bitcoin mining. It requires a huge amount of processing power for miners to validate transactions. As per one report, the Bitcoin mining network accounts for 0.08% of the world's CO2 production in 2021. 60% of Bitcoin mining activity in the world comes from fossil fuels. Bitcoin mining companies don’t have the same expenditure while doing the mining.

Mining expenditure differs from to country. Venezuela is the cheapest country in the world to mine 1 bitcoin whereas South Korea is the most expensive country in this regard. On the other side, El Salvador is the first in the world which announced that Bitcoin as its official currency is doing mining activity with natural resources like volcano energy. El Salvador plans to build a Bitcoin city at the base of a volcano, with the cryptocurrency used to fund the project. The site would take advantage of the Conchagua volcano's geothermal energy to power Bitcoin mining. Rising prices draw in greater mining activity, thus having “a greater impact on the environment.

China had cracked down twice on crypto mining in 2021 quoting environmental reasons. Russia and Georgia also follow a similar path. But U.S. lawmakers want to restrict mining activity. The U.S. is the highest consumption of energy for bitcoin mining with 1,380 MW followed by Kazakhstan. Congress sub-committee is focusing on Bitcoin and related Proof-of-work in mining. The U.S. has a target of reaching zero emissions by 2050 and honored the Paris agreement to tackle the climate crisis. U.S. lawmakers want to probe on using high energy in Bitcoin mining.  They asked bitcoin mining companies about the usage of power and where it comes from. It seems that the U.S. may impose restrictions on bitcoin mining.