Can Bitcoin mining have a net-positive effect on energy, environment

ambcrypto.com:

Bitcoin mining operations’ censure over its ESG concerns never ceases to exist. To make things worse, the mining industry suffered a major decline in 2022 amid the ongoing cryptocurrency winter. Following this, many big crypto-miners opted to sell their BTC holdings.

However, both of these factors could see a change in the scenario given the insights discussed below…

Bitcoin miners are uniquely flexible energy consumers that can help solve some of our biggest energy problems.

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Learn more in our new report: https://t.co/gGunLOUMYo pic.twitter.com/BKlQkrDI1J

— Arcane Research (@ArcaneResearch) September 1, 2022

Crypto-research and analytics firm Arcane Research, on 2 September, released a report estimating Bitcoin’s energy usage and its potential to transform the energy industry. The report asserted that the mining industry could transform worldwide energy production for the better. Contrary to its frequent narrative as a social and environmental harm. The report added,

“Most people disregard bitcoin mining as just yet another energy-intensive industry, but there is one big difference: bitcoin miners are uniquely flexible concerning when and where they consume energy.”

I.e. BTC could have a net-positive effect on energy and the environment. But, is this actually true?

Looking at facts, BTC mining operations’ energy consumption did increase over the years given the sheer demand. BUT, the industry still registered a very small part of the global total. Something that many critics miss out on.

As per the graph below, BTC miners consumed electricity at a rate of around 100 TWh per year, accounting for about 0.06%