PennFuture's Rob Altenburg has been leading the charge on this issue, and is one of the foremost experts on this and other energy issues in Pennsylvania. If you'd like to get in touch with Rob regarding bitcoin in Pennsylvania.
Bitcoin
The science is clear: we must rapidly cut carbon emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. So why, in Pennsylvania, are new-age prospectors reviving defunct waste coal power plants to profit from them?
First, an explanation: Bitcoin, created in 2009, is the most widely used cryptocurrency. Bitcoin miners use hundreds, if not thousands, of special-purpose computers that work around the clock to solve complex math problems similar to repeatedly picking lottery numbers, but much more difficult often taking trillions of attempts. When they succeed in solving the puzzle, they are awarded roughly $300,000 worth of bitcoin at current prices.
The problem is that the computers used in bitcoin mining worldwide consume enormous amounts of electricity more than entire countries like Argentina and Sweden and that electricity is often generated by burning dirty fossil fuels like coal and gas.
Be sure to check out our infographic for more details.
Here's what PennFuture is saying about bitcoin mining
On March 7, 2023, PennFuture's Senior Director of Energy & Climate, Rob Altenburg, testified before the U.S. Senate Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee on the negative environmental impacts of crypto-asset mining. To view a PDF of Rob Altenburg's Capitol Hill testimony, click Bitcoin Spoken Testimony.
Since 2021, PennFuture has been leading the charge and sounding the alarm about this issue in Pennsylvania. We have been interviewed by ABC News, The Atlantic, NBC News, Fortune Magazine, StateImpact Pennsylvania, and many others about this emerging issue. A few of these interviews and articles are listed below so you can get up to speed.
- The Atlantic, March 22, 2023: Crypto is mostly over. Its carbon emissions are not.
- ABC News, Jan. 25, 2022: Bitcoin operation ignites debate around the waste from coal mining in Pennsylvania
- WESA FM, Pittsburgh's NPR Station, Jan. 31, 2022: How waste coal is fueling Bitcoin in Pennsylvania
- NBC News, Sept. 25, 2021: Bitcoin miners align with fossil fuel firms, alarming environmentalists
Presentations and slides
In addition to high-profile media interviews, blogs, and Op-Ed pieces, PennFuture has been asked to give presentations to other environmental advocates about this issue. Below is a recording of one of these presentations, in which PennFuture's Rob Altenburg spoke to Sierra Club Pennsylvania and others about this issue.
