Sustainable energy and digital currencies: challenges and future prospect
Seyed Ehsan Hosseini, Hesam Kamyab · Future Technology · 2022
Due to the impressive growth in digital coins trading, most cryptocurrencies' market cap has increased drastically. Therefore, more people are engaged in the mining process, causing a significant increase in electrical power consumption. To make cryptocurrency technology sustainable, using renewables such as photovoltaic solar power, wind energy, tidal power, geothermal power, hydroelectric power, fuel cell, and biomass has been implemented. Moreover, to decrease electrical power consumption in the cooling process of mining systems and computers, using phase change material (PCM) has been recommended. Since the cryptocurrency mining process is very competitive, only those miners will survive who employ the most competitive mining systems and benefit from the lowest electrical power costs. While the profitability of renewable electricity-based mining is lower than grid-based mining, the latter method compensates for better sustainability in cryptocurrency and lower environmental costs. This paper reviews the possible ways to make the cryptocurrency mining process clean and environmentally friendly.