Re:Green hackers around the world, let’s destroy Bitcoin
by effie on Sunday February 07, 2021 @03:26PM
(#26057907)
Yes big players can buy electric energy cheaper than the small guy (or even be paid to consume). Impact on consumer prices or CO2 production is very small and the blame in CO2 production is shared with the producer. So if there is a problem here it is with big player consumers and big producers increasing total CO2 production. I agree that on a global scale, that is a problem. However, it's not a problem inherent to BTC. If you think you can get rid of big players building dirty plants and producing lots of CO2 by cancelling BTC then you are naive.
Storage of energy was and is very small / non-existent because of large investments needed to build it, and little profit to be gained. It's not BTC's fault.
First part: bullshit. Shutting down BTC would be highly consequential.
BTC is the perfect peak shaver to have on your grid. This is what makes it so perverse. With a mining rig, you can shave excess production peaks on any of the energy markets: long-term, cover intraday swings, or frequency stabilization where you have to react in seconds.
If BTC ceases siphoning green energy away from hydro plants, etc, the grid operators and their governments will be forced to look into storing surplus production instead of turning it into waste heat and crypto hashes.