在線月刊《Nature Sustainability》登載的一篇論文指出,，挖比特幣需要的能量比開(kāi)采銅、金等金屬還多,。

人們經(jīng)常把比特幣稱為“新型黃金”,。此項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，“開(kāi)采”出1美元比特幣需要的能量大約是開(kāi)采黃金的三倍。

俄亥俄州橡樹(shù)嶺科學(xué)與教育研究所的研究人員還比較了挖掘其他加密貨幣消耗的能量,，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)它們普遍比開(kāi)采黃金更“費(fèi)電”,。不過(guò)，與此項(xiàng)研究覆蓋的所有其他金屬和加密貨幣相比,，開(kāi)采鋁礦的能耗要高的多,。

開(kāi)采金屬礦藏和挖掘加密貨幣需要的技術(shù)及工具有天壤之別。

加密貨幣采礦是“礦工”對(duì)一組加密貨幣交易進(jìn)行驗(yàn)證并將其添加到區(qū)塊鏈中的過(guò)程,，區(qū)塊鏈則是一個(gè)公共交易賬本,。

此項(xiàng)工作需要強(qiáng)大的計(jì)算機(jī)、服務(wù)器和冷卻設(shè)備,，而所有這些都讓能源成本節(jié)節(jié)攀升,。在部分國(guó)家和地區(qū)，能源開(kāi)支已經(jīng)讓購(gòu)買一個(gè)比特幣的價(jià)格和“開(kāi)采”一個(gè)比特幣所需要的電費(fèi)大致相當(dāng),。

今年,，和比特幣挖礦有關(guān)的電力需求預(yù)計(jì)將增長(zhǎng)兩倍。如果真是如此,，加密貨幣采礦消耗的能量將超過(guò)阿根廷的全國(guó)用電量,。

受該趨勢(shì)影響，一些城市已經(jīng)提高了加密貨幣采礦的電費(fèi),。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

The “mining” of bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency, requires more energy than that of mining metals like copper and gold, according to a paper published in Nature Sustainability.

Mining bitcoin, which the report points out is often referred to as “new gold,” requires about three times more energy per U.S. dollar than that required to mine gold, the study found.

Researchers at the Oakridge Institute for Science and Education in Ohio also compared the energy consumption required to mine other cryptocurrencies, which were all found to be generally higher than that of gold. Aluminum mining, however, required substantially more energy than all other metals and cryptocurrencies compared in the study.

Mining metal and mining cryptocurrency require a vastly different set of skills and tools.

Cryptocurrency mining is a process in which a “miner” packages a block of cryptocurrency transactions into a blockchain, a ledger of transactions.

The work requires powerful computers, servers, and cooling devices, which all add to growing energy costs. In some countries, energy costs make purchasing a Bitcoin as expensive as mining one.

The power demand associated with Bitcoin mining is predicted to triple this year and if it does, the energy consumption required to mine cryptocurrency will surpass that of entire countries.

The trend has led some municipalities to raise energy prices for cryptocurrency mining operations.