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When new technologies like electricity or the dishwasher took off in the 20th century, most of the people racing to adapt them had no idea what trading candles for light bulbs would do to the Earth's climate.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii have set out to make sure that doesn't happen again when it comes to a 21st century technology that has some people very excited: Bitcoin.
<p>In a study <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0321-8" target="_blank">published Monday in Nature Climate Change</a>, they calculated that if Bitcoin were adapted at the rate of other modern technologies, it would generate enough carbon dioxide emissions to push global temperatures two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in less than 30 years.</p><p>"If this takes off it will be something that we will not be able to control," study lead author and University of Hawaii Associate Prof. Camilo Mora told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-29/bitcoin-could-theoretically-put-paris-climate-goals-out-of-reach" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>.</p><p>This is because Bitcoin requires a massive amount of energy. Bitcoin is a digital currency that is only exchanged computer-to-computer. New Bitcoin enters the system through an energy-intensive process called mining that requires computers to solve difficult mathematical problems. Last year, the use of Bitcoin generated 69 million tons of carbon dioxide, equal to the emissions of Austria, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/10/29/bitcoin-could-lead-climate-change-chaos-within-20-years/1810686002/" target="_blank">USA Today reported</a>. </p><p>The researchers found that if Bitcoin is incorporated into widespread use at the slowest rate of other new technologies, the planet would warm two degrees Celsius in 22 years; if it is incorporated at an average rate, we would pass that marker in 16 years.</p><p>"Currently, the emissions from transportation, housing and food are considered as the main contributions to ongoing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a>," paper co-author and University of Hawaii student Katie Taladay told USA Today. "In our paper, we show that bitcoin should now be put in the list of additional concerns."</p><p>Bloomberg, however, reasoned that Bitcoin is unlikely to catch on in the same way as the consumer technologies used as comparisons by the researchers.</p><blockquote>It would be unfair to compare potential bitcoin adoption with previous consumer-technology according to Michael Wilshire, head of strategy at Bloomberg NEF. Consumer products tend to take off when there's high unmet demand for a product or service, prices are low enough for widespread affordability and growing adoption makes the product more useful. Given the circumstances, Bitcoin is "a long way from being a universally accepted currency," Wilshire said. </blockquote><p>In the U.S., 60 percent of transactions under $10 still use cash, and there are many other cryptocurrencies vying to replace it, including options like Ethereum that are looking to forgo the energy-wasting mining process. </p><p>But the study is an important model for how we must consider new technologies in the age of climate change. </p><p>"This type of analysis should be performed when any new technology is under development," study author and University of Hawaii PhD student Randi Rollins told Bloomberg. "Being aware of the consequences of future technology development could go a long way in reducing emissions and preventing further damage to the environment."</p>
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- How Blockchain Technology Could Transform the Food Industry ›
- Bitcoin Is Not Only Unaffordable, It's Also a Massive Energy Hog ›
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By Jeremy Deaton
Bitcoin, the much-hyped cryptocurrency, made headlines recently for driving a surge in power use. Around the globe, digital entrepreneurs are 'mining' bitcoins by solving complex math problems, using supercomputers to get the job done. Those supercomputers use a ton of power, which largely comes from coal- and gas-fired power plants spewing gobs of carbon pollution.
But while hackers wreak havoc on the climate, blockchain, the bleeding-edge technology behind bitcoin, could one day help clean up the mess. Climate wonks say blockchain has a role to play in the clean-energy economy, helping homeowners sell electricity, allowing businesses to trade carbon credits, and making it easier for governments to track greenhouse gas emissions.
<p>To understand how it all works, let's start with a quick explanation of <a href="https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/" target="_blank">blockchain</a>.</p><p>Typically, if you want to send someone money over the Internet, you need a third party to validate that transaction. That party, typically a bank, certifies you are not trying to send the same money to two different parties simultaneously, or otherwise trying to deceive the system. Blockchain allows users to do business directly with each other without involving a central authority like a bank.</p><p>In this instance, blockchain acts like a digital ledger that simultaneously exists on every computer belonging to the same network, and the ledger is updated with every transaction. Because the ledger exists everywhere all at once, it is incredibly difficult to hack. Because it belongs to everyone, all the information is verifiable, though the privacy of individual users is preserved.</p><p>Since users don't need a bank to validate their transactions, they can do business faster without the help of a bank. Additionally, there's no need to staff up and maintain all the personnel and infrastructure costs associated with a bank. These are the chief appeals of blockchain—security, speed and savings. The exciting part is that blockchain can be used to authenticate transactions of any kind. That's where climate change comes in.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzA5MjMxNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjQwNTAxOX0.0cx5yEtBAL2S7_u__GshikvIGkR1OUZ53bxO4qUyC54/img.jpg?width=980" id="885f4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b764fec1e5405bc0c5796b6033bce062" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A wind turbine</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Pexels</small></p>
<p>A major obstacle to addressing climate change is that our energy system is highly centralized, while the technologies we will need to cut carbon pollution, by and large, are not. Currently, most people buy electricity from a coal- or natural gas-fired power plant. As the price of solar panels <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/solar-and-wind-how-low-can-they-go-f55dcaec9deb" target="_blank">continues to drop</a>, more people will generate their own electricity from rooftop solar.<br></p><p>Rooftop solar owners want a way to sell their surplus power. Currently, in many places, they can sell that electricity back to the power utility, but this undercuts the utility's core business of generating and selling electricity. In parts of the country, utilities have gone to <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/the-things-some-utilities-will-do-22e27a9eea77" target="_blank">great lengths</a> to curtail this practice.</p><p>Brooklyn startup <a href="http://lo3energy.com/" target="_blank">LO3 Energy</a>, however, is a company that cuts out the middle man, using blockchain to make it possible for rooftop solar owners to <a href="http://grist.org/article/in-brooklyn-you-can-now-sell-solar-power-to-your-neighbors/" target="_blank">auction off</a> their surplus power to an apartment down the block. "Traditionally, your money really goes towards large corporations. The generating stations probably are located a distance away," Scott Kessler, Director of Business Development at LO3 Energy, told Nexus Media. "Now you can make sure that's staying local."</p>
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<p>Blockchain could also be used to simplify carbon trading. A <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-is-preparing-to-launch-the-world-rsquo-s-biggest-carbon-market/" target="_blank">growing number</a> of countries—and a handful of <a href="https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/capandtrade.htm" target="_blank">U.S.</a> <a href="https://www.rggi.org/" target="_blank">states</a>—have set up cap-and-trade programs. Governments put a cap on carbon pollution and then auction permits that allow businesses to generate a certain amount of carbon pollution. If a company pollutes less than its permit allows, it can sell the rest of its allowance to another firm.<br></p><p><a href="https://www.ibm.com/us-en/" target="_blank">IBM</a> is working with <a href="http://www.energy-blockchain.com/" target="_blank">Energy-Blockchain Labs</a>, a Chinese firm, to <a href="https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/51839.wss" target="_blank">streamline</a> China's carbon trading scheme using blockchain, allowing businesses to transfer allowances directly to each other without needing a government to verify those transactions. Blockchain makes the whole process transparent, allowing regulators and businesses to monitor transactions.</p><p>"Blockchain technology is expected to become an important means for effective control of carbon emissions, which is of great significance to China, the world's largest source of carbon emissions," said Cao Yin, Chief Strategy Officer of Energy-Blockchain Labs.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzA5MjMyOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTE5NzY0M30.cu5UsB-z5ZlYVvARgrjsw0zKmlZCZIlXxF-H9XQp3ug/img.jpg?width=980" id="bbe4f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4845762f54de87abad6150037cdbd03b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Shanghai, China</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Pexels</small></p>
<p>Carbon trading is just one example. Blockchain is being used for everything from <a href="https://www.smithandcrown.com/sale/wepower-token-sale-renewable-energy-crowdfunding-trading-blockchain/" target="_blank">crowdfunding</a> renewable energy projects to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40479414/can-personal-carbon-trading-take-off-on-the-blockchain" target="_blank">creating apps</a> that incentivize people to use less energy. The possibilities are nearly limitless, but experts don't expect a revolutionary transformation overnight.<br></p><p>"Bear in mind that most things that could be done with blockchain technology could also be done with centralized computer systems, too, so the real question is whether blockchain offers a more efficient, or more democratic, way of doing these things," said Brett Scott, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Heretics-Guide-Global-Finance-Hacking/dp/0745333508" target="_blank">The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money</a>. "There are a lot of organizations right now feeling that they need to say something about blockchain tech in order to show that they are considering new innovations. You should be critical-minded when reading these claims though."</p><p>It remains to be seen how blockchain will be deployed. The technology is in its infancy. But experts say it could be used to track emissions, cut pollution and sell clean power. At every turn, it could make that work cheaper, faster and more transparent.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/blockchain-secret-weapon-in-the-fight-against-climate-change-45c4a47e849d" target="_blank">Nexus Media</a>.</em></p>
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Blockchain technology could solve food safety and fraud by enabling immediate traceability to the point of origin. Shutterstock
By Sylvain Charlebois
There has been a lot of noise on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin of late. While some suggest cryptocurrencies are a fraud, others believe them to be the next biggest economic revolution the world has seen since the internet. Bitcoin has brought to light blockchain technology, which offers great potential for food safety and verification in the agrifood sector. Yet it is far from being the panacea for a range of issues affecting the industry—at least for now.
<p style="">
Simply put, <a href="https://theconversation.com/demystifying-the-blockchain-a-basic-user-guide-60226" target="_blank">blockchain</a> technology is a way of storing and sharing information across a network of users in an open virtual space. Blockchain technology allows for users to look at all transactions simultaneously and in real-time. In food, for example, a retailer would know with whom his supplier has had dealings. Additionally, since transactions are not stored in any single location, it is almost impossible to hack the information.
</p><p style="">
For consumers, blockchain technology can make a difference. By reading a simple <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-curious-comeback-of-the-dreaded-qr-code/" target="_blank">QR code</a> with a smartphone, data such as an animal's date of birth, use of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antibiotics">antibiotics</a>, vaccinations and location where the livestock was harvested can easily be conveyed to the consumer.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjk2MzQyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTE4Njc5NX0.1gu17Jqk7Kus29GT3WzwnLqb9-SVXOMYePn_9bgYXPQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="c8be2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4f49baaeededd72644e1ce513f048a40" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Yaxi Hu, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, developed a test to identify foreign animal parts in ground beef in 2016. Blockchain technology could help to improve the process of tracing food to its origin in real-time, greatly reducing the need to test the product. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">The Canadian Press / Handout, Paul Joseph / UBC</small>
</p><p style="">
<strong>Food Safety</strong><br>
</p><p style="">
Blockchain makes a supply chain more transparent at an all-new level. It also empowers the entire chain to be more responsive to any food safety disasters. Massive organizations such as Nestlé and Unilever are considering blockchain technologies for that reason.
</p><p style="">
Walmart, which sells 20 percent of all food in the U.S., has just completed <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/wal-mart-regaining-grocery-share-from-competitors-at-accelerating-rate.html" target="_blank">two blockchain pilot projects</a>. Prior to using blockchain, <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/08/22/bitcoin-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency/" target="_blank">Walmart conducted a traceback test</a> on mangoes in one of its stores. It took six days, 18 hours and 26 minutes to trace mangoes back to its original farm.
</p><p style="">
By using blockchain, Walmart can provide all the information the consumer wants in 2.2 seconds. During an outbreak of disease or contamination, six days is an eternity. A company can save lives by using blockchain technologies.
</p><p style="">
Blockchain also allows specific products to be traced at any given time, which would help to reduce <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food-waste">food waste</a>. For instance, contaminated products can be traced easily and quickly, while safe foods would remain on the shelves and not be sent to landfills.
</p><p style="">
<strong>Preventing Fraud</strong>
</p><p style="">
However, it will work only if the data at the source is accurate, as current practices in the industry are much more open to human error. Much of the compliance data is audited by trusted third parties and stored either on paper or in a centralized database. These databases are highly vulnerable to informational inaccuracies, hacking, high operating costs and intentional errors motivated by corruption and fraudulent behavior.
</p><p style="">
Blockchain operates anonymously, so <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/themixingbowl/2017/10/23/the-blockchain-of-food/1" target="_blank">mistakes would be traceable</a> to individual culprits. Considering recent <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-scientist-lauded-for-catching-food-cheats-1.3850156" target="_blank">food-fraud</a> scandals in Canada and elsewhere, this feature is not trivial. Blockchain technology provides a method with which records are kept permanently.
</p><p style="">
Most importantly though, it facilitates data-sharing between disparate actors in a food value chain. Many retailers have sold fraudulent food products unknowingly. With the use of blockchain, those days could come to and end.
</p><p style="">
<strong>Faster, Fairer Payment</strong>
</p><p style="">
Blockchain will allow everyone to be paid more quickly, from farm to plate. Farmers could sell more quickly, and be properly compensated as market data would be readily available and validated.
</p><p>
Blockchain technology could represent a legitimate option for farmers who feel compelled to rely on marketing boards to sell their commodities. The use of blockchain could prevent price coercion and retroactive payments, both of which we have seen across the food supply chain.
</p><p style="">
Blockchain technologies could "<a href="https://qz.com/326569/the-uberization-of-the-economy-is-really-about-building-a-better-trap-for-ideas/" target="_blank">Uberize</a>" the agrifood sector by eliminating middlemen and lowering transaction fees. This can lead to fairer pricing and even help smaller outfits desperate to get more market attention.
</p><p style="">
<strong>Limits of Blockchain</strong>
</p><p style="">
Our current traceability systems need work, and blockchain technologies could be the evolution they need. Given its architecture, blockchain technology offers an affordable solution to both small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large organizations. However, there are noteworthy limitations.
</p><p>
The amount of information which can be processed is limited. Since all of the information would be out there and accessible, several contracts between organizations would need to be secured for some level of confidentiality to be retained. How to balance confidentiality with transparency would need to be worked out.
</p><p style="">
The agrifood arena is filled with secrets. Blockchain technology as it is currently being deployed would be problematic for many food companies. For many, blockchain is just a solution looking for a problem. Simply put, some companies, like Walmart, have more power and influence over other companies within the same supply chain.
</p><p style="">
<strong>Marketplace Confusion Limits Participation</strong>
</p><p style="">
In addition, blockchain is really in its infancy and most people are uncertain about its potential. The innovation in blockchain architectures, applications and business concepts is happening rapidly. It's a decentralized, open-source organism which is challenging to grasp for many, including governments.
</p><p>
In food, innovation is always desirable until it becomes real. Once it manifests itself, guards go up. Some organizations are moving ahead while others wait to see what happens. The marketplace is currently fueled with confusion due to the Bitcoin phenomenon, which is labelled by many as being irrational and ridiculous. Cryptocurrencies allow for transactions to occur while using blockchain technology, but it remains just an option.
</p><p>
Nevertheless, the most important challenge for blockchain technology remains participation. All parties must adopt the technology in order for it to work. In food distribution, not all companies are equal and some can exercise their power more than others.
</p><p style="">
A successful integration of the blockchain requires the engagement of all participating organizations. Walmart's blockchain will likely be successful because it's Walmart. But thousands of companies do not have the same clout.
</p><p style="">
Blockchain technology in agrifood has potential but it needs work. Industry public leaders should embrace blockchain as an opportunity and should be added to a digitalization strategy currently affecting the entire food industry. Transparency, productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of the agrifood sector could be enhanced.
</p><p style="">
Nonetheless, research should look at how to generate evidence-based blockchain solutions to democratize data for the entire system before we get too excited.
</p><p style="">
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-blockchain-technology-could-transform-the-food-industry-89348" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Bitcoin's insane price hike to more than $15,000 on Thursday has left me thinking one thing: I'll never be able to afford these things, so why should I care?
But while bitcoin-money lines the pockets of early investors and digital currency speculators, the rest of the planet is suffering. As it turns out, bitcoin is sucking up a whole lot of energy.
<p style="">
<a href="https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption" target="_blank">According</a> to Alex de Vries, who tracks the industry on the site <a href="https://digiconomist.net/" target="_blank">Digiconomist</a>, each bitcoin transaction consumes 250 kilowatt hours of power—or enough to run the average American household for <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywbbpm/bitcoin-mining-electricity-consumption-ethereum-energy-climate-change" target="_blank">about a week</a>. In all, the entire bitcoin network consumes an estimated 32 terawatt-hours a year. That's
<a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/bitcoin-uses-more-energy-than-ireland#gs.pl2vz=o" target="_blank">more than</a> the electricity consumption of at least 159 other countries, including Ireland and most African nations.</p><p>
And the network isn't exactly running on clean, green
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewables</a>. </p><p style="">“Bitcoin's biggest problem is not even its massive energy consumption, but that the network is mostly fueled coal-fired power plants in China," De Vries noted.
</p><p style="">
So why does a bitcoin—a weightless digital currency you can't exactly hold or touch—consume so much energy?
</p><p>
Well, first you have to understand that the world has a finite supply of 21 million bitcoins. Then, to “mine" one of these bitcoins, a computer must solve a complex cryptographic puzzle. As the number of bitcoins dwindle, the puzzles get more and more challenging to solve, and thus these computers need more and more energy to run.
</p><p style="">Companies mine bitcoins with large warehouses full of noisy, energy-sucking servers that are built just for the task. <a href="https://qz.com/1055126/photos-china-has-one-of-worlds-largest-bitcoin-mines/" target="_blank">For instance</a>, the coal-powered Ordos bitcoin mine in China consists of eight buildings filled with 25,000 mining machines. Their daily electricity bill costs a staggering $39,000.</p><p>
Ultimately, if bitcoin or other digital cash forms become our mainstream currency as some predict, this could come at the peril of the planet's health.
</p><p>
Proponents, however, argue that bitcoin's environmental footprint doesn't have to continue on this upsetting trend. As Elaine Ou, a blockchain engineer at Global Financial Access,
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-07/bitcoin-is-greener-than-its-critics-think?utm_content=view&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-view" target="_blank">wrote</a>:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
What's more, bitcoin's consumption won't necessarily keep rising as it has. Data centers, for example, have gotten a lot better. Not long ago, the Department of Energy was predicting that their electricity use would double every five years, and Google was getting slammed for consuming enough to power 200,000 homes. In recent years, though, the centers' total electricity use has flattened even as their number has kept growing. As it turned out, better cooling and power management technology improved efficiency. Bitcoin miners are no less motivated by profit, so it stands to reason that they will seek to become more efficient and employ the cheapest energy available, which generally means hydroelectric plants and other renewable sources.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
It's easy to criticize bitcoin for being wasteful. But so are many things in life, including airplanes, commuting to work and Sunday Night Football. A return to subsistence farming could drastically reduce our carbon footprint, but sometimes using energy to improve our quality of life is worthwhile.
</p><p style="">
Still, if bitcoin continues its exponential rise, we'll have to make this currency much greener soon.
</p>
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