[creamycryptoParticipant]

I really do think the narrative of BTC being an environmental scourge is backwards.

I’ve been following the discourse for a while, reading tons of papers on it, and it’s likely that **BTC really does have the potential to bootsrap the transition to renewables.**

Renewable energy isn’t profitable for companies because the peak times where renewable energy is most abundant (solar for example), are times when there’s no demand for it (during the day). There are high storage costs for this solar energy, and our storage technology can’t store it long enough for it to be used later in the day (at least in terms of profitability. by the time we can use it, available energy has decreased a ton, and the costs associated with it aren’t economical).

**By putting BTC miners near renewable energy plants allows companies to profit during times when no one wants that energy. BTC miners become the buyers of last resort, giving profits to allow these renewable plants to be economically feasible.**

When energy producers have a way to sell that renewable energy, they’re incentivized to keep those renewable energy sources open. If that incentive is there, we’re also more likely to see more renewable investment, and that will help us expand the renewable grid at scale.

Another strong point is that BTC mining can capture stranded energy that would otherwise be wasted (primarily flared).

**Here’s a really cool example I’ve found in my research**

BTC uses a little over 100 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy a year.

World energy production from natural gas is 40,000 TWh a year. Estimates show that the world flares 3.5% natural gas on a yearly basis. This amounts to 1400 TWh a year of …. completely wasted gas. That’s not even including the destructive amount of emissions.

**The BTC network would only have to capture 7 percent of that flared gas to *completely* negate its energy use.** That’s incredibly feasible at scale, and in my head, it’s a mind-blowing stat.

I know people will say “Just don’t flare,” but it’s required in order to keep up with demand. Energy producers have to overproduce energy to have enough available for peak demand. It’s not economical to store this excess natural gas, so they have to flare it. It sucks, but that’s how it works now.

Hopefully, that will change as renewable economics improve, but in the meantime, BTC can be a potent reducer of waste and emissions.

BTC mining actually is a pretty novel tech that completely changes the incentives of renewable energy, and I’m really optimistic about its potential.

I love ETH and I’m glad it’s transitioned. We can all be friends here and hope for both chains’ success.

[Author]

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