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A comment on Bitcoin miners revived a dying fossil fuel plant – then CO2 emissions soared. Parent comment

Re:Bitcoin miners revived a dying fossil fuel plant – then C... by pjerem on Friday February 18, 2022 @09:51AM (#30386427)
Well, they would be like electric space heaters. Inefficient vs heat pumps. Sure, you'd get some coins on top of it. But you (I) would be still considering this to be a waste of energy.
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Re:Bitcoin miners revived a dying fossil fuel plant – then C... by throwaway73838 on Friday February 18, 2022 @09:57AM (#30386512)
Not really. You would be doing a portion of work that would be done anyway, but instead, it’s being done in your house, for free, and you get a warm house. That’s a positive externality. Much more efficient than using energy for the sole purpose of creating heat.
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Re:Bitcoin miners revived a dying fossil fuel plant – then C... by amptorn on Friday February 18, 2022 @10:14AM (#30386747)
It's not free! You have to pay for the electricity and the expensive mining hardware! And it's less energy efficient than heating your house using conventional means.
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Re:Bitcoin miners revived a dying fossil fuel plant – then C... by thinkmassive on Friday February 18, 2022 @11:54AM (#30388114)
You can augment a heat pump with a miner that uses immersion cooling
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