There is a side of digital currency mining that nobody likes to talk about. That is how much power it takes to mine a single coin. The modern world is focused on the digital to go paperless and save on carbon waste; mining digital coins seems to undermine this directly.

Since the mining of Bitcoin has been an ongoing process that has lasted more than a decade already, some might argue that there is no choice in the matter. The time has come for us to find more environmentally sustainable ways to mine our online coin tokens.

The Problem with Universal Currency

The finance sector might be excited by the prospect of a universal Currency, but it has proven this far that it is easier said than done. Bitcoin has confirmed that the market is far too unstable for any coin to stick. On the other hand, we can see that coins like Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, are all emerging as leading contenders.

The problem seems to be that each coin gains traction too quickly, unable to maintain a steady foothold in the financial industry before the value drops from the bottom of it. Time and time again, we have seen this same pattern emerge.

While we could speculate about the validity of universal currency all day long, it would do us little good. Instead, let us resign ourselves to the fact that people will mine these tokens using vast amounts of computer power so that we can figure out what to do about it.

How Much Power Does it Take to Mine Digital Currency?

The length of time it takes and the amount of power used to mine a token varies from currency to currency. 

Bitcoin, for example, only ever takes 10 minutes to mine. To create a bitcoin, the user must solve a complex equation via their processing unit. Since the equation is complex, it takes a lot of processing power. As of 2020, the Bitcoin network was costing 120 gigawatts per second. That is the same as 156 million horsepower or about the same as almost 50,000 turbines operating at full speed every second. 

That is a lot of power.

However, the good thing about Currency generation is that it takes electricity. If we can change where electricity comes from into a more sustainable source, we can make crypto mining environmentally friendly.

Ways to Make Online Currency Mining Sustainable

If we want to make online currency mining feasible, sustainability can be increased in the following ways.

1 – Geothermal Energy

Companies such as PEGA Mining are already using geothermal energy as their source. This means tapping into the electricity generated naturally by the Earth’s core.

2 – Harness Wind Power

Fifty thousand turbines is a lot, but as technology is fancy and increasing the power generation from those turbines, it will become more sustainable.

3 – Use the Sea

We can see this in two ways. We can use its chill to keep our servers stored at the bottom of the ocean, naturally cool. We can also use the sea to generate hydroelectric power to keep miners going.

These may not be long-term solutions, but they are a start. How we get our energy for mining should be a consideration moving forward.

Written by Callum Jackson

Source: TG Daily – The Future of Digital Currency Lies in Geothermal Energy