[LINK] Bitcoin and global warming

[Jim Birch]

Writing in The Conversation on Monday, Professor John Quiggin said the rise
of Blockchain itself should not be prevented, as there were other ways to
use it that were not as energy intensive.

But he said that Bitcoin itself should be abandoned, describing it as a
“collective delusion” with “massively destructive environmental
consequences”.

...

As the video explains, Bitcoin mining requires a truly phenomenal amount of
electricity – currently 32 terawatts a year, according to Digiconomist.

To put that in context, Australia uses 224 terawatts of electricity a year,
while New Zealand uses 40, according to figures published by the US Central
Intelligence Agency.

...

Supporters of Bitcoin would like to see it become a global currency to
rival the US dollar. But Professor Quiggins warned against this.

“Shifting the whole global financial system to Bitcoin would require at
least a 200-fold increase, which in turn would entail increasing the
world’s electricity use by around 500 per cent,” he said.

“With the current threat of climate change looming large globally – this
constitutes an unthinkably large amount of energy consumption.”


https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2017/12/11/five-reasons-shouldnt-buy-bitcoin/

https://theconversation.com/the-utopian-currency-bitcoin-is-a-potentially-catastrophic-energy-guzzler-88871

Former linker Danny Yee <http://danny.oz.au/blog/> suggests (TIC?) we
should boycott any business that accepts Bitcoin.