Bitcoin Mining vs the Environment — Part 2

We need to talk about heat

Image: Licensed adobe stock, by somchai

Prologue:

While this article can be enjoyed as a standalone piece, it is best read in conjunction with this earlier article that deals with another negatively perceived aspect of Bitcoin mining, namely power consumption.

The key points that can be taken from that piece are:

• Bitcoin mining is a huge industry that is growing rapidly, but has three significant environmental concerns which are: power consumption, heat generation and recycling of equipment.
• Whilst it’s true that power consumption is currently a problem, it is argued that it is not as big as it is made out to be and there are even specific examples where Bitcoin mining is providing an immediate environmental benefit.
• The primary argument proposed is that Bitcoin mining in the long term could actually be a low environmental impact activity in terms of power consumption as existing trends continue to play out.

However, even if the problem with power consumption is ultimately resolved, two other significant problems remain — heat generation and equipment recycling.

This article will deal with the issue of heat generation.

Man, its hot in here