Senator Warren Is Concerned About Bitcoin Miner Greenidge’s Environmental Impact

In a comprehensive letter to the CEO of Greenidge Generation (GREE), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned the environmental imprint of the publicly traded company’s bitcoin mining facility in New York state.

Warren wrote to Jeffrey Kirt, expressing her worry about the company’s energy use and its impact on the environment and consumers.

“Given the extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining, mining operations at Greenidge and other plants raise concerns about their impacts on the global environment, on local ecosystems, and on consumer electricity costs,” 

Greenidge‘s mining plant in New York was heavily criticized earlier this year. Environmentalists were concerned about the power station’s use of natural gas to mine bitcoin, as well as the purported impact of its cooling system on a nearby lake. Beginning on June 1, the firm stated in May that it will acquire carbon offset credits to offset the emissions produced by its rigs.

Bitcoin miners consume enormous amounts of energy to run their operations. To counteract this narrative, miners have recently opted for more environmentally friendly power sources.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Bitcoin Mining Council, an industry organization, sustainable electricity grew to almost 58 percent of the total consumed by the sector globally during the third quarter, up from 3 percent in the second quarter. The surge is due in part to the fast development of North American mining in the face of a Chinese exodus, as well as a transition to sustainable energy and better mining processes.

Nonetheless, Warren pointed out that the energy required by bitcoin miners was comparable to that of Denmark, Chile, Argentina, and Washington state. “Bitcoin’s predicted yearly power usage more than tripled between January 2019 and May 2021,” she said.

The letter is the first time Warren has asked a miner for details about its activities. She also wrote:

“Dresden plant’s greenhouse gas emissions increased nearly tenfold from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, it sent over 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – equivalent to the emissions of 50,000 cars,”

On its website, Greenidge claims to be the “first and only carbon neutral, vertically integrated power generator and bitcoin miner of scale in the United States.” The corporation is also constructing mining operations near Spartanburg, South Carolina, where it plans to begin mining later this month or early next year.

Patrick

Coincu News