Bitcoin and Renewable Energy Mining: A Survey
Yusuke Tomatsu, Wenlin Han
Abstract
Bitcoin, the most valuable and energy-consuming cryptocurrency, has recently been at the center of a heated debate over its environmental impact. This controversy has caught the public’s attention, prompting us to investigate the energy consumption of Bitcoin. In this paper, we have conducted a review of the literature on various aspects of Bitcoin mining, including its mechanisms, energy consumption, mining sites, and the potential for renewable energy use. Our findings reveal that the power consumption of Bitcoin is bound to increase with the continued adoption of the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm. Nonetheless, the growing availability of affordable renewable energy sources worldwide brings hope that Bitcoin mining will shift towards cleaner energy in the near future.