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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

Like mining for gold, it can be very lucrative. And bad for the environment.

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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

Crypto miners use natural gas "stranded" in wells to power energy-hungry rigs

by Andy Uhler
Mar 25, 2022
Usually the gas is burned off at the well. Environmentalists say using it for mining incentivizes more drilling.
If natural gas from oil wells can't be used or sold, it's sometimes flared, as above, or vented into the air. Some cryptocurrency miners see it as a potential energy source.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

Central Texas: famous for barbecue, boots and ... bitcoin?

by Andy Uhler
Mar 18, 2022
The city of Rockdale hopes cryptocurrency miners can make up for lost industrial jobs and tax revenue.
A worker installs bitcoin mining equipment at the Whinstone facility in Rockdale, Texas, in 2021.
Mark Felix/AFP /AFP via Getty Images
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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

Crypto miners came to upstate New York for cheap energy. Some regret letting them come.

by Lily Jamali
Mar 11, 2022
The miners have blown through one town's allocation of cheap power, while another has put a moratorium on new mining operations.
Coinmint is using an old aluminum smelting plant as a cryptocurrency mining facility. The plant comes with its own electrical substation with direct hookups to the grid.
Lily Jamali/Marketplace
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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

Your questions about cryptocurrency answered

by Janet Nguyen
Mar 4, 2022
Over the past decade, digital currencies (particularly bitcoin) have exploded in popularity.
While financial institutions have expressed skepticism toward bitcoin, the crypto sector continues to grow.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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Cryptocurrency mining and the environment

How bitcoin mining works

by Matt Levin
Mar 4, 2022
Ingredients: Tens of thousands of powerful computers, enough energy to power all of Poland. Yield: More than $30 million in newly minted bitcoin every day.
Two technicians inspect a bitcoin mining operation in 2018. The highly lucrative practice is paying off for miners but wreaking environmental havoc.
Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images
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