His hometown in Grant County, Washington has more than a dozen cryptocurrency mining operations.
In an area of just over 100,000 residents located south of the Grand Coulee Dam, 13 cryptocurrency mining operations — imagine warehouses full of networked computers constantly running complex mathematical equations to earn bitcoins — might seem impressive. But the total 27 megawatts of electricity used by miners represents only a small portion of the demand that the Grant County Public Utility District has met since 2017, when the price of bitcoin rose to nearly $20,000.
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In 2018 "we're getting requests that will double our workload in this area", said Christine Pratt, the authority's public information officer. "The steps we've taken have prepared us to deal fairly with these customers."
Growing interest in cryptocurrency mining in the region has been fueled by the US's cheapest hydropower sources produced by Grand Coulee and other dams. Therefore, utilities in Central Washington are increasingly used to managing the high electricity costs that characterize this sector.
Fee schedules are one of several ways that public authorities in Washington regulate the cryptocurrency mining industry.
After several years of Bitcoin's boom-and-bust cycle, the regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrency mining is relatively weak in Washington and the rest of the Pacific Northwest.
Even at government agencies charged with protecting the environment beyond emissions such as water quality or e-waste disposal, speakers say they have little or no specific knowledge of the impact of bitcoin mining.
This is slowly changing.
Oregon and Washington's ambitious Clean Air Act goals, which seek to remove non-renewable energy sources from state power grids over the next several decades, are fast approaching. In response, lobbyists and politicians have begun to focus on ensuring that high electricity costs resulting from cryptocurrency mining do not contribute to expiring fossil fuel emissions.
In Oregon, House Bill 2816 seeks to extend emissions controls to customers of consumer-owned utilities that supply cryptocurrency mining operations and data centers, closing what climate activists see as a critical loophole. The current law applies only to investor-owned utilities, such as Pacifi Corp and Portland General Electric, and electric utility providers.
"It really makes sense as the next step on the path to 100% clean energy and to make sure we meet our goals," the congressman said. Pam Marsh, D-South Jackson County, is a co-sponsor of HB 2816.
In Washington, House Bill 1416 would apply clean energy standards to utility customers and similar services, which are not included in current law. It serves most cryptocurrency mining operations, most of which are located in central and eastern Washington.
Glenn Blackmun, director of energy policy at the Washington State Energy Office, called the bill part of a larger, ongoing conversation about how to prioritize resources to meet the state's climate goals.
"We're trying to transition other sectors of our economy from fossil fuels to green electricity," Blackmon said. "[Cryptocurrency mining] certainly adds to our already significant need to generate electricity supplies to meet our energy goals."
It is no coincidence that Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of electricity. It was intentional.
Because Bitcoin works through a system called "proof of work," the downside comes from the time and energy each computer spends solving the exact mathematical equation that generates a certain number of Bitcoins. The system is the foundation of the currency's value and security.
Other environmental impacts of this industry include the obsolescence and disposal and replacement of computers and the use of coolant, usually water, for servers as they run for long hours.
These aspects of cryptocurrency mining have made headlines due to concerns about dumping hot water into lakes, killing fish and algae growth, and reopening closed coal-fired power plants to run cryptocurrency servers.
Concerns about the latter practice prompted New York lawmakers in November to temporarily stop issuing and renewing air permits for cryptocurrency mining companies that operate fossil fuel facilities.
It sparked a scandal for Tana Sen in Washington state when she first started learning about the industry a few years ago.
"It blew me away," said Sen, a Democrat from Mercer Island and a member of the newly formed House of Representatives. Innovation, Community, Economic and Experience Development Committee . He began trying to learn everything he could about the industry.
He said, at that time his perspective changed. He learned how utility companies raise rates to manage demand and how the Washington State Department of Ecology's Water Quality Division monitors the water discharge practices of companies like cryptocurrency mining operations. This calmed his initial fears.
"I realized that as a country we cannot legislate cryptocurrency," he said. If cryptocurrencies do exist, "Washington is a better place to get these things, rather than taking them to China or Texas or somewhere unregulated and these things can cause more damage."
During the 2022 legislative session, he and his Washington Senate colleagues successfully pushed for the creation of a blockchain task force, to which he was appointed in May. The working group will study the application of blockchain technology in various fields, including its environmental impact.
It's not the first time: About a dozen states have created similar task forces. In California and Wyoming they have enacted laws.
The Washington caucus was scheduled to meet in December 2022 and submit its first report to Governor Jay Inslee in December 2023. But in an interview in early January, Sen said the group had not yet met its first
"It's a little disappointing," he said.
Jim Kopriva, Inslee's spokesman, expressed a less positive view of cryptocurrency mining's contribution to the country, but only briefly highlighted ongoing legislative improvements.
Kopriva said the governor is "generally aligned with the Biden administration on the power implications of cryptocurrency use."
"Mining consumes a lot of energy and creates few jobs, and our energy infrastructure must prioritize Washington's energy needs," he added. "Next legislation could close the gap that our state law requires energy-intensive industries to provide clean, renewable energy."
At the national level, efforts to reduce the harmful effects of cryptocurrency mining on the environment include a combination of industry innovation and government regulation.
For example, the Bitcoin Mining Council, formed in 2021, represents the largest industry-led effort to start a conversation about the power consumption of Bitcoin mining. Trying to track bitcoin mining power mix. Its latest quarterly report estimates that 58.9% of energy used in the global mining sector comes from sustainable sources such as water.
Each operation claims to use sustainable practices. Markle Standard's cryptocurrency mining operation in Pend Oreille County, in the northeast corner of Washington, is an example. It estimates on its website that it will reach carbon negative by the end of this year. It currently purchases renewable energy credits to offset the potential impact of fossil fuel sources on its energy mix. The company did not respond to questions about what percentage of its total energy costs it plans to offset through renewable energy credits.
InvestigateWest visited Merkel Standard's plant in Yusk in October shortly after it went live.
The company is currently permitted to use up to 100 MW per year, but has signed agreements with its commercial partners to use up to 500 MW. Company executives say achieving this will require significant investment in infrastructure, which could take years to build.
Until now, federal action on cryptocurrencies has largely been limited to research.
In September, the White House released a series of landmark reports that attempted to capture the industry's impact nationwide. It includes several startling statistics, including estimates that cryptocurrency mining now accounts for about 1% of the country's electricity consumption and produces 25 to 50 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to diesel fuel emissions. . It produces. From State Railways.
A report also indicates that the industry produces more than 30,000 tons of e-waste per year, equivalent to all the e-waste produced by the Netherlands.
Cryptocurrency industry advocates like the Blockchain Association criticized the Biden administration's report, calling it a "missed opportunity" that focuses on the risks associated with the industry without offering solutions to improve access and security.
In response to the White House inquiry, US Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass. And U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., introduced the CryptoCert Environmental Transparency Act in December. US Senator Jeff Markley, a Democrat from Oregon, was one of the project's sponsors.
The bill would require the EPA to conduct a comprehensive study on the impacts of cryptocurrency mining activity in the United States and require cryptocurrency mining operations that use more than 5 megawatts of energy to report greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, Oregon and Washington are working to ensure that cryptocurrency mining operations will eventually be unable to purchase electricity from non-renewable sources to meet their energy needs.
Oregon's clean energy goals require investor-owned state utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 80% of baseline emissions levels by 2030; 90% by 2035; and 100% by 2040.
Washington's Clean Energy Transition Act requires utilities to remove coal-generated electricity from their state portfolios by 2025. By 2030, their portfolios must be greenhouse gas emissions neutral so that they can use limited amounts of electricity produced from natural gas while it lasts. They are compensated by other measures such as renewable energy credits. Until 2045, companies must supply electricity from 100% renewable sources without the possibility of using compensators.
In recent years, advocates have recognized the potential for data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations to contribute to ongoing carbon emissions under the 2021 Oregon House bill, said Joshua Basovin, director of energy policy at the environmental nonprofit Climate Solutions Clean Oregon. Climate legislation passed in 2021 aims to close this gap.
"Data centers and cryptocurrencies are very interested in Oregon," Basovin said. “We think it would be great to have parity with HB 2021 for other large cargoes. Cryptocurrencies are not very developed here yet, but I think they have a lot of growth potential.
"জলবায়ু পরিবর্তন বাস্তব, এটি আমাদের সম্প্রদায়কে প্রভাবিত করে, এবং আমাদের বৃহৎ শক্তি গ্রাহকদের একই মান ধরে রাখতে হবে যা আমরা বৃহৎ ইউটিলিটিগুলি রাখি," বলেছেন ওরেগন রাজ্যের প্রতিনিধি মার্শ৷
ওরেগন এবং ওয়াশিংটনের এখনও 10% অ-নবায়নযোগ্য জ্বালানি বন্ধ করার জন্য তাদের শক্তি সরবরাহ রয়েছে, উভয় রাজ্যের তথ্য অনুসারে।
ওরেগন ডিপার্টমেন্ট অফ এনার্জি থেকে বিদ্যুত উত্পাদন উত্সের রাজ্যব্যাপী মিশ্রণের সর্বশেষ তথ্য দেখায় যে 2020 সালে রাজ্যের পাওয়ার গ্রিডে 26% বিদ্যুতের জন্য কয়লা ছিল, তারপরে প্রাকৃতিক গ্যাস 21%। জলবিদ্যুৎ 40% এবং বায়ু শক্তি 7% প্রতিনিধিত্ব করে।
ওয়াশিংটন স্টেট ডিপার্টমেন্ট অফ কমার্সের তথ্য অনুসারে, জলবিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদনে ওয়াশিংটনের অংশ বেশি, প্রায় 55%, কিন্তু বিদ্যুৎ উত্সের সামগ্রিক মিশ্রণে এখনও 2020 সালে প্রায় 10% কয়লা অন্তর্ভুক্ত ছিল। প্রায় 13% প্রাকৃতিক গ্যাস থেকে আসে, যখন বায়ু এবং পারমাণবিক শক্তি একসাথে 9% হয়।
কাজটির মাধ্যাকর্ষণ এবং সুযোগ হাতে রয়েছে এই কারণেই রাজ্য জুড়ে রাজনীতিবিদরা ক্রিপ্টোকারেন্সি মাইনিং সেক্টরকে ধ্বংস করা এবং বিটকয়েন খনি শ্রমিকদের জন্য আরও শক্তি যোগানোর দরজা খোলার মধ্যে একটি ভারসাম্য খুঁজে বের করার চেষ্টা করছেন।
ওয়াশিংটন এনার্জি অফিসের ব্ল্যাকমুন বলেন, "যদিও তারা পরিচ্ছন্ন শক্তির নতুন উৎস তৈরি করে, তবুও তারা দুষ্প্রাপ্য সম্পদের জন্য প্রতিযোগিতা করতে পারে, বিশেষ করে পরিষ্কার শক্তির নতুন উৎস"।
"একই সময়ে, অন্যান্য নতুন ব্যবহার রয়েছে যেগুলিতে আমরা খুব আগ্রহী এবং আমরা ক্রিপ্টোকারেন্সির চেয়ে বেশি মূল্যবান হিসাবে শ্রেণীবদ্ধ করার প্রবণতা রাখি।"
InvestigateWest (invw.org) হল একটি স্বাধীন, অলাভজনক সংবাদ সংস্থা যা প্রশান্ত মহাসাগরীয় উত্তর-পশ্চিমে অনুসন্ধানী সাংবাদিকতার জন্য নিবেদিত। এই গল্পটি সাসটেইনেবল পাথ ফাউন্ডেশনের সহায়তায় সম্ভব হয়েছে।
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