Exhaust heat from a power plant acquired for Bitcoin causes the lake to turn into hot water
Bitcoin power plant is turning a 12,000-year-old glacial lake into a hot tub | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/07/bitcoin-power-plant-is-turning-a-12000-year-old-glacial-lake-into-a-hot-tub/
Bitcoin is mining since it is possible to get a virtual currency which has been newly issued by the group to earn a bit coin in large-scale mining there will be many in the world. According to the data compiled by the research team of Cambridge University, 'Power consumption by bitcoin mining', the power consumption of bitcoin mining may exceed the power consumption of national units such as the Netherlands and the Arab Emirates. It has become clear.
In addition, since Bitcoin mining consumes a huge amount of electricity, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted is also huge. That's why Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said, 'It has a negative impact on the global climate.'
Bill Gates says 'Bitcoin has a bad effect on the earth' --GIGAZINE
by Sam Churchill
Meanwhile, cases of new harmful effects due to virtual currency mining have been reported.
The Greenwich power plant in northern New York was acquired by Atlas for Bitcoin mining. Atlas is doing Bitcoin mining for 'experiments in marketing,' and is pouring tens of millions of liters of hot water from power generation into Lake Seneca, one of the Finger Lakes.
Mr. Avi Batinton that live near Greenwich power plant, and the 'lake is very warm, you will feel like you are in the bath,' said we.
At the Greenwich power plant, which burns natural gas to generate electricity, 60% of the electricity generated is supplied to neighboring households, and the remaining 40% is used for Bitcoin mining. Atlas, which acquired the power plant, reported that it succeeded in mining 1100 BTC (about 4 billion yen) as of February 2021, and it seems that it uses thousands of mining equipment for mining. .. Atlas plans to expand the scale of mining by installing thousands of more mining equipment.
The Greenwich power plant, which powers Atlas' mining facilities, is dumping more than just the 'hot water that drains into Lake Seneca.' In December 2020, Atlas' Bitcoin mining business emitted greenhouse gases equivalent to 240,103 tons of carbon dioxide. This is 10 times higher than January 2020, when Atlas started its Bitcoin mining business. As a result, Greenwich power plants emit greenhouse gases equivalent to 641,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
The maximum power generation capacity of the Greenwich power plant is 108 MW, but at the time of writing the article, 85 MW is used. Therefore, if the Greenwich power plant uses its power generation capacity as its maximum source, annual greenhouse gas emissions can reach 1.06 million tonnes.
The Greenwich power plant will dump 135 million gallons (about 510 million liters) of hot water per day at 108 degrees Fahrenheit (about 42 degrees Celsius) in the summer and 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 degrees Celsius) in the winter. It is allowed. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reports that the average temperature of hot water dumped by the Greenwich power plant over the past four years was 98 degrees Fahrenheit (about 37 degrees Celsius) in summer and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (about 21 degrees Celsius) in winter. I am. Residents around Lake Seneca have reported that the water temperature is rising, but the environmental survey of Lake Seneca will not be completed until 2023.
The Greenwich power plant shares the details of the water temperature measurements taken from March 1st to April 17th, 2021 with overseas media Ars Technica, and the average drainage temperature is 49.6 degrees Fahrenheit (about 49.6 degrees Celsius). 9.8 degrees), which is 6.8 degrees higher than the temperature of the water intake of the factory. The Greenwich power plant said that the average temperature of water discharged from another plant 9 miles north was 67 degrees Fahrenheit (about 19 degrees Celsius). 'Only the Greenwich power plant has a negative impact on Lake Seneca. The opinion that it is exerting or hindering New York's important greenhouse gas emission reduction targets is false. '
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