She has asked the mining company for a detailed response over “extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining.”
Nobody can deny the large carbon footprint Bitcoin mining leaves after an individual or a large organization gets behind mining activities. Although a survey by the Bitcoin mining council shows that the usage of renewable and sustainable power has grown to 58% worldwide as the rapid expansion of mining in North America picked up following China’s ban on crypto.
Senator Warren highlighted that mining companies like Greenidge and others matched the energy consumption of countries like Denmark, Chile, and Argentina. The estimated annual power consumption increased more than threefold between 2019 and 2020.
She specifically stressed Greenidges’ Dresden plant’s greenhouse gas emissions which she claimed to have increased more than ten times between 2019 and 2020 in the letter. This is the first time that Warren has demanded a reply from a miner about its operations.
Greenidge widely markets itself as the first and only carbon neutral bitcoin mining plant at scale. The senator’s questions contradict the company’s statements on its website.
This is not the first time Greenidge is in the news for its mining activities. Earlier this year, the company’s New York facility was under scrutiny for its power station, which burned natural gas to sustain bitcoin mining, as well as the facility’s cooling system’s impact on a local lake. Later in June, the company promised to cut its rigs’ emissions with carbon offset purchases starting June 1. Greenidge has yet to reply to Warren’s letter as this news is being written.