A novel study from Cornell Engineering investigates how the historically energy-intensive world of cryptocurrency mining might boost renewable energy deployment. The research suggests strategically pairing crypto mining with green hydrogen technology could offer economic benefits and reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.
The challenge of crypto’s power consumption
With its vast computational demands, cryptocurrency mining has gained a reputation for its substantial energy use.” As cryptocurrency operations continue to contribute significantly to global carbon emissions, finding ways to integrate widespread interest in cryptocurrency with a sustainable, climate-friendly future becomes paramount,” states Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems Engineering in Cornell Engineering.