Policy assessments for the carbon emission flows and sustainability of Bitcoin blockchain operation in China

Shangrong Jiang, Yuze Li, Quanying Lu, Yongmiao Hong, Dabo Guan (), Yu Xiong and Shouyang Wang ()
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Shangrong Jiang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuze Li: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Quanying Lu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dabo Guan: Tsinghua University
Yu Xiong: University of Surrey
Shouyang Wang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The growing energy consumption and associated carbon emission of Bitcoin mining could potentially undermine global sustainable efforts. By investigating carbon emission flows of Bitcoin blockchain operation in China with a simulation-based Bitcoin blockchain carbon emission model, we find that without any policy interventions, the annual energy consumption of the Bitcoin blockchain in China is expected to peak in 2024 at 296.59 Twh and generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emission correspondingly. Internationally, this emission output would exceed the total annualized greenhouse gas emission output of the Czech Republic and Qatar. Domestically, it ranks in the top 10 among 182 cities and 42 industrial sectors in China. In this work, we show that moving away from the current punitive carbon tax policy to a site regulation policy which induces changes in the energy consumption structure of the mining activities is more effective in limiting carbon emission of Bitcoin blockchain operation.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22256-3

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