Cryptocurrency mining requires immense amounts of electricity, and as a result, some cryptocurrency miners have relied on renewable energy sources amid growing criticism.
Fundamentally, however, this poses a further problem for Sweden. "Sweden needs renewable energy targeted by crypto asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services, and increased use by miners threatens our ability to comply with the Paris Agreement", he said. affirmed Finansinspektionen, the financial supervisor. "Energy-intensive crypto-asset mining should therefore be banned," added the regulator, citing that this opinion is also shared by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. This announcement comes in the midst of the COP26 conference, where activists and environmental advocates from around the world pressured governments around the world to act quickly and with renewed urgency against climate change.
In addition to other industries potentially losing renewable energy, there are other problems with cryptocurrency mining that consumes electricity, no matter how green its source is. One of these problems is the waste of electricity, or e-waste. Bitcoin mining produces the same level of e-waste every year as the Netherlands, according to research.